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♦ <V 



THE CAMPAIGN 



OK II IK 



FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENT 



MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER MILITIA. 



''THE CADET REGIMENT. 





a -J 



BOSTON: 

PRINTED B V JAMES S . ADAMS. 

1882. 






Published by the "Company A Associates" of the Forty-Fifth 

Regiment, M. V. M. 



PREFACE. 



NOT long after the return of the Forty- Fifth 
Massachusetts regiment from North Caroh'na, 
an informal meeting of some of the mem- 
bers of Company A was held in Boston, which 
resulted in the formation of a permanent association, 
known as the " Co. A Associates of the 45th Regt. 
Mass. Vol. Mil." 

This association has proved a constant source of 
pleasure to its members, and has served to keep in 
fresh remembrance the many and varied experiences 
of our campaign. The annual reunions are held on 
the anniversary of the expedition to Trenton, and 
from year to year the friendships which were formed 
in the service so many years ago, are renewed. The 
presence of some of the officers as invited guests 
often adds to the pleasure of the occasion. 

Not a little of the success of these yearly meetings 
is due to that warm friend of the compan)- and regi- 
ment. Colonel Edward W. Kinsley. As, in the old 
war time, no guest was ever more welcome than he, 
whether in camp at Readville, on the deck of the 
"Mississippi," in the city of Newbern, or on the sand- 
plains of North Carolina, so it has been in the time 



IV PREFACE. 

of peace at our reunions.. Elected an honorary mem- 
ber of the " Co. A Associates," the meetings would be 
incomplete, indeed, without his cheery presence to 
enliven us with reminiscence or song, or, better still, 
to give us a bit of the inner history of the dark days 
in '62 and '63, with which he is so familiar, and in 
which he played so important a part. 

The question of publishing a history of the cam- 
paign of the 45th has been often discussed at these 
Company A meetings, and a committee was even 
appointed to consider the matter. The subject has 
also been under consideration in the Regimental 
Association, oroanized some vears since. But noth- 
ing was done by either association, until at the meet- 
ing of the Co. A Associates, held in January last, it 
was definitely voted to publish a history of our cam- 
paign, with illustrations, and a committee was chosen 
for this purpose. This book is the result, and in 
offering it to the members and friends of the regi- 
ment, the committee desire to make this explanation. 

Shortlv after the resfiment was mustered out of the 
service, one of the members of Company A wrote a 
brief history of the campaign, not with any view to 
publication, but for his own private gratification, and 
to preserve the leading incidents of his army expe- 
riences. He induced another member of the company, 
now a well-known Boston artist, to illustrate the man- 
uscript with drawings copied from sketches taken, 
during our army life. 



PREFACE. V 

This history has been read with interest by differ- 
ent members of the regiment, and the committee 
were convinced that it would be far better to obtain, 
as they have done, permission of the writer and artist 
to pubHsh, without alteration, this illustrated story of 
the campaign, written when the scenes described were 
fresh in the mind, than to attempt the publication of 
an elaborate history of the regiment, even if it were 
possible to induce any member to undertake such a 
task at this late date. 

In justice to our comrades who have kindly granted 
us this privilege, the committee feel sure, if any apol- 
ogy is needed, that the reader will bear in mind the 
fact that this joint effort is the production of their 
youth, and not the work of to-day. 

Boston, June, 1882. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAI'TER. p^(.g 

I. Camp Like at Readville, i 

II. The Voyage, ji 

III. Camp Amory on the Trent, 21 

IV. On the March, -ji 

V. Our Battles, ^c) 

VI. The Return, _^g 

VII. A Trip to Trenton, y 

VIII. Life in Newbern, 67 

IX The Grand Review, 77 

X. The Fourteenth of March, 87 

XL A Trip up the Railroad, 97 

XII. Camp Massachusetts, 107 

XIII. Homeward Bound, 117 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Camp Meigs at Readville, [Frontispiece). page. 

Outward Bound, Fori Macon, etc., ii 

Camp Amory on the Trent, 21 

Battle of Kinston, 31 

Kinston Swamp and Plan of Battle-Ground, .... 39 

Battle of Goldsboro, . . . • 49 

Reserve Picket-Station, Blockhouse, etc., 57 

Quarters of Co. A., Xewbern, (Front View,) 67 

Quarters of Co. A., Newbern, (Rear View,) 77 

Field and Staff, 45th M. V. M., S7 

Up the Railroad, Dover Cross-Roads, etc., .... 97 

Newbern, Camp Massachusetts, etc., 107 

Company A .\.t Readville, ... .... 117 



ROSTER 



OK 



FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, M. V. M. 



CHARLES R. CODMAN, Colonel. 

OLIVER W. PEABODV, .... Lieutenant Colonel. 

RUSSELL STURGIS, JR -Major. 

SAMUEL KNEELAND Surgeon. 

JOSHUA B. TREADWELL, . . . Assistant Surgeon. 

DANIEL McLEAN, Assistant Surgeon. 

GERSHOM C. WINSOR Adjutant. 

FRANCIS A. DEWSON, .... Quartermaster. 

ANDREW L. STONE Chaplain. 

HENRY G. WHEELOCK Sergeant Major. 

ARTHUR REED, .... Quartermaster Sergeant. 
CHARLES F. RICHARDSON, . Commissary Sergeant. 

EDWARD WIGGLESWORTH. JR., • Hospital Steward. 

THEODORE PARKMAN, . . . Color Sergeant. 

COMPANY A. 

GEORGE P. UEXXV, Captain. 

GEORGE E. POND, i~'( LieuUiiant. 

EDWARD B. RICHARDSON, 2d Licutataiit. 

COMPANY B. 

JOSEPH M. CHURCHILL, Captain. 

WILLIAM S. BOND, i~'( Liciitaiant. 

ABIIAH HOLLLS -""' Lieutenant. 



Xll 



ROSTER. 



COMPANY C. 



EDWARD J. MINOT, . 
HARRISON GARDNER, 
LEWIS R. WHITTAKER, 



Captain. 
1st Liaitetiant. 
2d Liaitenant. 



COMPANY D. 

NAT'L WILLIS BUMSTEAD, . 
SAMUEL THAXTER, .... 
CYRUS A. SEARS, 



Captaiu. 
1st Lieutenant. 
2d Liiittcnaut. 



COMPANY E. 

THOMAS B. WALES, JR., Captain. 

ALPHEUS H. HARDY, ist Liaitenant. 

J. FRANK EMMONS, 2d Lieutenant. 

COMPANY F. 

EDWARD F. DALAND, Captain. 

SAMUEL C. ELLIS, Jst Lientenant. 

THEODORE C HURD, 2d Lieutenant. 

COMPANY G. 

JOSEPH MURDOCH, Captain. 

THEODORE A. THAYER, ist Lieutenant. 

BENJAMIN H. TICKNOR, . ... 2d Lieutenant, promoted. 
M. EVERETT WARE, 2d Lieutenant. 

COMPANY H. 

LEWIS W. TAPPAN, JR., Captain. 

ALFRED WINSOR, JR., ist Lieutenant. 

ALFRED K. POST, 2d Lieiitetuint. 

COMPANY I. 

CHARLES O. RICH, Captain. 

J. DIXWELL THOMPSON, 1st Lientenant. 

EDWARD R. BLAGDEN, 2d Lieutenant. 

COMPANY K. 

GEORGE H. HOMANS, Captain. 

CHARLES A. WALKER, ist Lieutenant. 

JOHN H. ROBINSON, 2d Lieutenant. 



ROLL OF COMPANY A, 



FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, M. V. M 



GEORGE P. DENNY, Captain. 
George E. Pond, ist Lieutenant. Edw. H. Richardson, 2d Lieut. 



Charles W. Barstow, Orel. Sergt. 
George H. Watson, 2d Sergeant. 
William R. Butler, 3d Sergeant. 
(Died Jan. 26, 1867.) 



Wm. E. Wheaton, 4th Sergeant. 
Geo. F. Woodman, 5th Sergeant. 

(Promoted.) 
Charles B. Sumner, 5th Sergeant. 



Luther F. Allen, ist Corporal. Albert A. Chittenden, 6th Corp'l. 

Augustus S. Lovett, 2d Corporal. W'illiam F. Shaw, 7th Corporal. 
Chas. Eustis Hubbard, 3d Corporal. (Died Nov. 15, 1871.) 

Errol Grant, 4th Corporal. William B. Stacy, 7th Corporal. 

Henry K. Porter, 5th Corporal. Henry E. Merriam, 8th Corporal. 



Samuel L. Allen. 
Nathaniel Andrews. 
Wm. B. Atkinson. 
Caleb L. Bates. 

(Died Oct. 15, 1864.) 
Cyrus H. Bates. 
W'illiam H. Becket. 
Charles H. Bennett. 
William H. Berry. 
Joseph H. Bingham. 
Henry S. Bliss. 
Charles H. Brooks. 
George Brooks. 

(Died Feb. 10, 1863.) 
Elias W. Bourne. 
Louis H. Boutelle. 



Edmund W. Buss. 
Moses J. Colman. 
Edmund P. Davenport. 

(Died 187S.) 
Franklin H. Dean. 
Reuben Edgett. 
John B. Edmands. 
Geo. W. Estabrook. 
Frank A. Field. 
Calvin W. Fitch. 
John W. Fowle. 

(Died July 8, 1863.) 
Geo. E. Fox. 

(Died Jan. 10, 1863.) 
Joseph V. Freeland. 

(Died May 10, 1872.) 



XIV 



ROLL OF COMPANTV A. 



RLTUS ]\ FURCUSON. 

Stephen A. Furcuson. 

(Died July 17, 1S63.) 
Gardner Oilman. 
Chas. p. CJoldsmith. 
Elbridge Oravks. 

(Died Dec. 17. 1862.) 
Chas. II. Orikkin. 
Chas. .\. Gross. 
Abraham G. R. Hale. 
E. Thomas Hale. 

(Died Sept. 7, 1868.) 
MiLO T. Hardy. 
Francis P. Haskell. 
Robert Hasty. 
Horace Holmes. 

(Died Aug. 19, 1864.) 
Chas. A. Ho\yard. 
RoDOLPHus K. Howard. 
Levi D. Jones. 
Thomas Kinsley. 
Silas W. Lanc;. 
Charles H. Leonard. 
Richard H. Lincoln. 
Stephen Lincoln. 

(Died June 30, 1863.) 
Jeremiah R. Lord. 
Edmund S. Lunt. 
Albert W. Mann. 
JaxMes H. M.\son. 
Joseph A. Morgan. 

(Died July 3, 1863.) 
Edwin T. Morse. 
John R. Morse. 
Henry D. Norton. 
Geo. B. Parker. 

(Died .) 



Daniel Pert. 
Francis K. Pert. 
Wm. J. Pert. 
Wm. p. Plimpton. 
Wm. Poland. 
Wm. H. Pratt. 
Frank L. Putnam. 
Wm. A. Richards. 
Swartz Richardson. 

(Died Dec. i, 1872.) 
Oscar W. Sargent. 

(Died Oct. 19, 1877.) 
Henry K. Scudder. 
Frank H. Shaplei(;h. 
Samuel B. Shaplbkiii. 
Thomas W. Shapleigh. 
Rufus S. Smith. 

(Died .) 

Jeffrey T. Stanley. 
Henry R. Thompson. 
Edwin E. Tiffany. 
Geo. W. Tower. 

(Died Jan. 20, 1871.) 
Chas. A. Vinal. 
John H. Watson. 

(Died Oct. 22, 1S73.) 
Isaac G. Wheeler. 
L. Henry Whitney. 
Israel D. Wildes. 
Lyman D. Willcut. 
Geo. Willmonton. 
Henry T. Winslow. 

(Died June 30, 1863.) 

Honorary Member. 
Edw. W. Kinsley. 



THE FORTY-FIFTH. 



CHAPTER I. 



CAMP-LIFK AT READVILLE. 



SHORTLY after the President's call for three 
hundred thousand nine months' men, in the 
summer of 1862, a meeting was held by the 
Independent Corps of Cadets, in their armory in 
Boston, to consider the expediency of organizing a 
nine months' regiment, of which that corps should 
be, as it were, the nucleus. The proposition being 
favorably received, application was speedily made to 
Governor Andrew by various members in favor of 
the movement, for permission to recruit for such a 
regiment, under the title of the Cadet Regiment, 
but officially to be known as the Forty-fifth Regi- 
ment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. 

Charles R. Codman of Boston, then adjutant of 
the cadets, was selected as future commander of the 
regiment, subject, however, to the approval of the line 
officers, who were themselves to be elected by their 
respective companies in accordance with the militia 
law of the state, prior to receiving their commissions 
from the orovernor. Recruiting- officers canvassed the 
state, and the companies ranked in the order in which 
their respective rolls were filled. 

Readville was selected as the rendezvous and camp- 



2 CAMP-LIFE AT READVILLE. 

ine-oTOund for the reoiment, and on the twelfth of 
September, Company D went into camp- at that place, 
followed at intervals by the other companies as they 
severally attained a size which would warrant a re- 
spectable appearance on drill and parade. 

The camp was pleasantly situated on high ground, 
surrounded on three sides by other camps, while the 
fourth was skirted by woods, back of which, as a fit- 
tino: backo-round, rose the blue hills of Milton in all 
their beauty. 

We were quartered in barracks, long wooden sheds 
running parallel to each other, and perpendicular to 
and facing the parade-ground. Back of each bar- 
rack, and separated by a street some twenty feet in 
width, were the little cook-houses, while still farther 
to the rear were the officers' quarters, quartermaster's 
department, etc. 

The first night in camp was a novel one to most of 
us, and formed the entrance to a new phase of exist- 
ence, a military life. We marched from the depot 
and were received with shouts of welcome by the 
companies already in camp. Halting in front of 
the barrack assigned us, the order to break ranks was 
the signal for a simultaneous rush of all to take 
possession of the movable bunks, which in two tiers 
lined both sides of the building, followed by another 
stampede after straw to fill them. 

My first military duty was the scouring of sundry 
rusty pots and pans preparatory to the evening meal. 
All the true patriots came into camp with empty 
haversacks, determined to brave the soldier's fare at 
the outset, and our pride was at its height when, 
formed in line, we marched sino-]e file to the cook- 



CAlMP-I.IFIi AT READVILLK. 3 

house, and had doled out to us from its window, the 
huge sHce of bread and dipper of coffee or tea. 

" Truly, we are serving our country at last," we said, 
and ate our rations without thought of what we had 
left behind ; but that slice of bread, varied often by 
hard- tack, so often, indeed, that the bread was the 
exception, and the dipper of coffee soon became an 
old, very old story, and the good things at home 
would rise in our memories, the o-hosts of better 
times, and would not down at our bidding, nor would 
the hard -tack, either. 

The interval between supper and roll-call was 
wisely spent in making our bunks comfortable for 
the night ; and that first night the custom was insti- 
tuted by our captain, of reading the lesson and 
prayers for the clay after morning and evening roll- 
call ; and was faithfully continued until the regiment 
went into tents, some seven months later. 

Punctually at nine, taps sounded and the lights 
were extinguished, and as reveille was at half-past 
five, we naturally desired and expected to lose our- 
selves immediately; but alas! for the fallacy of human 
hopes, not an eye in that barrack was closed in sleep 
a moment before midnight, except, perhaps, that of 
one of our number, afterwards discharged for deafness. 
The evil one himself was, without doubt, 011 a ram- 
page that night, and raised a very bedlam in our midst. 

In vain did the orderly threaten ; in vain did the 
officer of the day, encircled by that mysterious sash 
at which we raw^ ones had gazed with awe, command 
silence. For a moment there would be a lull in the 
storm, deludincr the sober-minded into a belief that 
quiet was at length restored, when, with a laugh or a 



4 CAMP-MFK AT READVILLE. 

jest, tliL' uproar would burst forth with redoubled 
vigor. Even after sheer exhaustion had quieted the 
unruly ones, it was hard to sleep as we lay thinking 
over our strange situation, and at intervals through 
the night caught the distant challenge of the sentry 
at the approach of the w^elcome relief. But the long- 
est day must have an end, and at last our weary 
eyelids were closed not to open again till the loud 
beat of the drum summoned us from the land of 
dreams. 

With the return of the dav our new duties com- 
menced; some were detailed for camp guard, others 
for police duty, but most of us were marched out to 
drill, and during our nine months' service this proved 
an unfailing source of amusement and occupation, and 
was improved to the utmost by the officers. 

Police duty has a mysterious sound to the uniniti- 
ated, and those first detailed for that service had their 
expectations raised to a great height, but the fall was 
so much the more severe. Some were set to work 
digging wells, others to sw^ep up the camp with 
brooms of their own manufacture, and one squad 
were assigned the task of emptying the barrels in the 
rear of the cook-houses, filled with the refuse of the 
men's rations; police duty is, in fact, to enact the part 
of general scavenger for the camp, a very necessary, 
but at the same time disagrreeable, business. 

Our first day's guard duty was an experience never 
to be forgotten. The solitary march back and forth 
back and forth, in the same narrow path, rain or 
shine, warm or cold, can only be appreciated after 
actual trial. Never did time fiy with such tardy 
wings as in the night-watches of those dark, wet, fall 



CAMP-LIFK AT READVILLE. 



nights, when the approach of the rehef was to the 
weary sentinel hke a release from imprisonment. But 
those first experiences had their comical side as well. 
The awkw^ard manner of handling the guns, tlie stu- 
pidity displayed in learning the instructions and 
duties of the post, and the various mistakes constantly 
occurrino- were lauo;hable to witness. 

One day there was a more than usually difficult 
subject, whose mistakes furnished a fund of amuse- 
ment for the whole guard. After innumerable blun- 
ders during the day, at nightfall he was carefully and 
at great length instructed with regard to the counter- 
sign, its object, nature, etc., until the lieutenant of 
the guard thought he would be able to pass muster 
under the ordeal of the grand round, but the officer, 
by skillful questioning, discovered that the counter- 
siofn was in his belief a sort of counterfeit bill, which 
was to be passed on delivery, — to say the least, an 
original interpretation of the meaning of the word. 

But the mistakes and blunders were by no means 
confined to the men, for the officers could, without 
breach of modesty, lay claim to their full share. One 
was particularly noted for his ignorance of military 
knowledge, and had earnedj among the men, the sou- 
briquet of " Right Backward Dress," from his repeated 
blunders in reference to that order; while another, 
havino- occasion to salute the commandant of the 
post, managed to bring his guard to the "present," 
but then gave the order "stack arms," quite regard- 
less of the intermediate orders essential to a proper 
execution of the manoeuvre. 

On pleasant days, guard duty at the camp entrance 
was by no means disagreeable, for on such days the 



6 CAMP-LIFE AT READVILLE. 

stream of visitors was unceasino- from mornino; till 
night. How we all enjoyed those visits ! and the 
sioht of a friend in the distance was a never-failino- 
pretext for an excuse from drill or parade. We 
were always ready to relieve them of the baskets and 
bundles they labored under, and of course they must 
inspect the barracks, admire the various decorations 
and inscriptions that ornamented the different bunks, 
and wonder how any mortal could ever sleep in such 
boxes. 

One afternoon, two of us were made happy by the 
arrival of a carriaoe-load of friends, who had come to 
dress -parade. We both noticed several mysterious- 
looking baskets stowed away in the depths of the car- 
riage, but of course no remark was made as to their 
probable contents. After witnessing and duly admir- 
ing the parade, at the sound of the supper-call, the 
ladies invited us to take supper with them, if we could 
for once deny ourselves the pleasures of the govern- 
ment commissariat. So, nothing loath, we were armed 
with the above-mentioned baskets, and took up our 
line of march toward a grassy knoll, back of the 
camp and outside the lines, to avoid intrusion, and 
there, stretched out on shawds and blankets, we had a 
supper worthy of the name. 

As we lay about the grass, taking our meal, the 
full moon rose in all its beauty from behind the 
Milton hills, and lit up the quiet October evening 
till the camps and hills were flooded with the silvery 
light. The growing dampness warned us at last to 
shorten our pleasure, but on taking refuge in the 
barrack, we were agreeably surprised by an impromptu 
concert from visitors and hosts, and as our regiment 



CAMP-LIFE AT READVILLE. 7 

boasted some very good voices, the singing formed 
an appropriate ending to such a deHghtful evening. 
We enjoyed one or two moonHght evenings in rather 
a different way, marching about the camp, headed by 
the band, and blundering through some of the simpler 
battalion movements for the colonel's benefit. 

Our battalion drills in those days were very amus- 
ing, for though in company drill the men got the 
blame for all mistakes, yet here the burden of reproof 
was shifted to the oflRcers' shoulders, and this was in 
some measure a recompense to us, for the laugli was 
now on our side. The tortures undergone by the 
colonel, in those early days, in witnessing the officers' 
oft- repeated blunders, must have been truly excruciat- 
ing. Now one, then another, would fall the victim of 
his censuring tongue, until, bewildered by the frying 
sarcasms and the complication of manoeuvres, their 
confusion became worse confounded, and we of the 
file, rejoicing over the misfortunes of the rank, would 
hail with delio-ht the welcome command of " Drill 
is dismissed," screamed forth by the colonel, half an 
hour before the usual time. 

Nor did we depend on visitors or drill for our 
whole stock of amusement. Bathing formed a part 
of the daily routine while the weather permitted, and 
foot -ball was a favorite occupation during our leisure 
hours. Our evenings passed quickly in a quiet rub- 
ber of whist, or in listening to the music with which 
the singers often favored us, usually in the barrack, 
but occasionally on the mild fall evenings, in the open 
air, stretched lazily on the grass before the door. 

But the crownino- feature of our life at Camp 
Meigs was the dress -parade, and this would be an 



8 CAMP-LIFE AT READVILLE. 

incomplete history indeed, had that been omitted in 
the tale. Very modest in appearance at the outset, 
with thin ranks, but two or tliree drummers and 
those far from perfect, and more than all, no guns for 
the men ; they were gradually improved, now by fresh 
recruits, then by the addition of the band, and the 
arrival of our Springfield rifles, until, under this com- 
bination of improvements, we were enabled to present 
a very respectable appearance. 

It seems like a dream to recall the two lono- rows 
of people which night after night stood facing each 
other in front of the barracks, — the actors and specta- 
tors. We come to parade -rest, and the performance 
commences. Three groans from the band, then the 
inevitable — the show tune of the band; and as they 
come slowly marching down the line, we see a famil- 
iar but ever novel sight. A little in advance of the 
band, monarch of all he surveys, and the " cynosure 
of neighboring eyes," struts Mariani, the drum -major, 
pride of the regiment, twirling his baton, token 
of empire, giving that finish to the show which even 
our rival neighbors are prone to admire. Never after- 
wards did the band play that familiar old tune. No. 
45, on the sand -plains of North Carolina, but a smile 
ran down the line ; and as our thoughts reverted to 
the pleasant dress -parades at Readville, we longed for 
that opposite row of faces, that we might show our 
friends what a good parade was like. 

The twenty-sixth of September, eight companies 
were mustered into the service of the United States ; 
and on the eighth of October, the remaininc: com- 
panics, — together with the field and staff officers, — 
and we became an ors^anized res^iment under the 



camp-lifk at KKADVII.I.E. q 

United States, though constituting a part of the 
state mihtia. 

It had been supposed all along that the Army of 
the Potomac would be our destination, but when the 
44th sailed for Newbern, it became a settled fact 
that North Carolina was to be our arena also, and as 
the day of departure drew near, every hour of our 
short furloughs became precious and the visits of our 
friends even more frequent and pleasant than before. 

The last Sunday but one, about half the regiment 
marched to Milton, and there took the cars for Boston, 
where we attended service at Park Street Church, the 
church of our chaplain, Rev. A. L. Stone, D. D. After 
an appropriate farewell discourse, we returned to camp 
much pleased with our trip, with a good appetite for 
the regular Sunday dinner in camp of baked beans. 

On Saturday, the first of November, the colors 
were presented to the regiment by Governor Andrew, 
and w^re received by Colonel Codman in our behalf. 
It was a gala clay in camp, and the grounds were 
covered with visitors, many present for the last time, 
as the regiment was under marching orders. In the 
evening an impromptu mock dress -parade was quite 
successfully carried out, much to the amusement of 
the spectators, who still lingered, reluctant to say 
good-bye. 

The last day or two was full of bustle and confu- 
sion and all who could obtain furlouohs were at home, 
leave-taking and making their final arrangements. 
Wednesday, the fifth of November, dawned on us at 
last, raw and disagreeable, and with full knapsacks 
and full hearts as well, we bade farewell to old Camp 
Meigs, where we had passed a month and a half so 



lO CAMP-LIFE AT READVILLE. 

pleasantly. Perhaps at the time we did not realize 
full)^ all our advantages at Readville, being new to 
the life, but we have certainly appreciated them in 
the retrospect, and those of our number who may 
take .the field again will reap the full benefit of their 
early experience. 

Leaving the cars at the Boston depot, we formed 
our line, and escorted by our patrons and godfathers, 
the Cadets, marched directly to the Common, where, 
on the Beacon mall, a collation was spread to which 
ample justice was done. 

After receiving our remaining colors from the hands 
of the governor (the regiment carried three flags. 
United States, State and Regimental), and hearing 
addresses, very appropriate, no doubt, but so long that 
we w^ere ready to drop with fatigue, loaded down as 
we were with full equipments, the last good-byes were 
said, and we started en route for the wharf. 

It was, indeed, a proud moment of our lives, the 
march that day through the crowded streets of old 
Boston, elate with the consciousness that we were 
embarked in a righteous cause, and determined to 
play our parts like men. 



BUI MWiiii t,_ ifiiiOTiirijijBUpp^iy^Mj 





CHAPTER II. 



THE VOYAGE. 



I'^HE mere recollection of the nine days passed 
on the steamer " Mississippi " is painful, but 
it occupied too prominent a position in our 
experience to be omitted in this sketch. 

After the usual delay on the wharf, attending the 
embarkation of a large body of men, we filed on to 
the steamer, and were ushered into our respective 
quarters. Our company, with five others, were con- 
signed to the stern of the vessel; so, passing down the 
companion-way, deeper and deeper, darker and darker, 
until we could, at least, claim a nearer proximitv to 
China than ever before, we arrived in the hold. As 
light was never known to penetrate that quarter, for 
two dim lanterns and three air-holes covered with 
gratings could hardly be said to afford light, it will 
be impossible to describe its appearance. As well as 
could be ascertained by touch and smell, the whole 
available space was fitted up with bunks, three tiers 
deep and of different capacities, holding from one 
to four occupants, those comfortably crowded with 
three being intended for four, and so on down to 
the single ones. All tliis we learned by the touch, 
and at least we will give them credit for making the 



12 THE VOYAGE. 

most of tlieir room ; but our olfactory nerves had 
another story to tell ; however, we will not particu- 
larize. 

The other companies were stowed in the forward 
part of the vessel, between decks and in the hold, 
the band lying wherever they could find space enough. 
In addition, five companies of the 46th Regiment 
were entrusted to the tender mercies of the " Mis- 
sissippi," and where they were packed is beyond the 
power of man to say — one company, at all events, 
was located on the quarter-deck. 

Now all this would have been well enouc^^h had w^e 
sailed that nio-ht, as was intended, and made the four- 
day trip to Beaufort; but no such good luck was in 
store, and our initiation was not to be quite so easy. 
A heavy northeasterly storm set in, soon after we had 
hauled into the stream, and for five days, a tempest of 
rain, hail, sleet and snow raged with unceasing fury. 

Colonel Codman declared the vessel should not sail 
in such a crowded, filthy condition, and the captain 
said he could not sail if he would, on account of the 
storm, and more than that, there must be a convoy to 
protect us from the " Alabama," at that time reported 
off the coast. So there we lay at anchor, tossing and 
pitching, in plain sight of the city, which only served 
to aggravate us in our wretchedness, while near by, 
lay our companions in misery, the 43d and the 
remainder of the 46th on our consort, the " Mer- 



rimac." 



Our drinkino-. water was condensed from salt water 

O 

by an apparatus connected with the engine, and was 
always in a lukewarm, yellowish state, enough to make 
one renounce water forever, and before which Gough 



TIIK VOVAGK. 13 

himself would have stood dumb. A guard, also, was 
always- stationed over the cask to prevent the men 
from drinking too much ; whether because the pro- 
cess of condensation had rendered it more precious 
than common water, or from a fear of the men sicken- 
ing from a too free use of the vile liquid, is still an 
unexplained mystery. May the inventor be con- 
demned to have it for an eternal drink ! 

The food given us baffles all attempt at description. 
The filthy messes of soup, salt-junk and burnt rice 
were boiled in the same huge caldron, and the sight 
of the dirty cook added to one taste of the unknown 
compound, called by some familiar name calculated 
to deceive us, was enough to make one eager to die 
of starvation. It was so pleasant, just before dinner, 
to be ordered below to await our turn in the long- 
line, and on the way down, catch a glimpse of the 
cabin table, covered with delicacies fresh from the Bos- 
ton markets, and when our company was called, to 
ascend from the depths of the vessel, cup in hand, 
eager for the sumptuous repast doled out from the 
great boiler, which, like the magician's flask, furnished 
tea, coffee, soup, etc., as desired. Yet all this was on 
a first-class transport; — may heaven take pity on the 
poor wretches whose hard fate consigns them to ves- 
sels of an inferior class ! 

After strenuous exertions by our colonel and some 
eood friends of the regiment in the city, another 
steamer, the " Saxon," was provided for the 46th, and 
our own vessel underwent a partial cleansing. We 
were also visited by some of the more enterprising of 
our friends, who ventured down the harbor in a tug 
durino- the lulls of the storm, and having received an 



14 



THE VOYAGE. 



invoice of lanterns, books and eatables, we were en- 
abled to make ourselves rather more comfortable. 

We embarked on Wednesday, and on the following 
Monday, accompanied by the " Merrimac," " Saxon," 
and the gun -boat "Huron," we steamed down the 
harbor just at sunset, overjoyed at the prospect of a 
quick voyage and a speedy release from our uncom- 
fortable quarters. Two or three of us had, in the 
course of our wanderings, discovered a cosy little 
nook in the extreme stern of the vessel, in close prox- 
imity to the screw, and here, away from the forlorn, 
grumbling crowd, which thronged the decks and holds, 
with our lanterns, books and cards, we managed to 
while away the weary hours quite pleasantly. 

The storm had completely exhausted itself, and the 
weather was all that could be desired ; and though 
the slowness of our consort, the " Huron," delayed us 
somewhat, yet after we were once fairly started on 
our way, nothing occurred to mar the voyage, and on 
Friday morning, the 14th instant, the lights of Beau- 
fort harbor were visible, and our trials on shipboard 
were at an end. Our decks were crowded with a 
happy company, and an exciting race ensued between 
the " Mississippi " and the " Merrimac," for the pilot- 
boat which lay off the entrance of the harbor, await- 
ing our approach ; but, to the chagrin of our captain, 
and in fact of us all, the " Merrimac " came out ahead, 
and having been boarded by the pilot, proceeded 
slowly in advance, the '" Mississippi " following closely 
in her wake, without delaying for a second pilot. 

It was a perfect morning, and the soft, fresh breeze 
was very different from the cold wintery blasts we 
had left behind us in Boston harbor. Every object 



THE VOYAGE. 



visible was scanned with curious eyes as we entered 
the bay and began to thread the channel, rendered 
very intricate by the low sand-bars which lay in every 
direction. These were covered with sea -fowl of every 
description, while the myriads of ducks which black- 
ened the water, made us wish for gun and dog with 
unceasing and unsatisfied longing. 

Two or three gun -boats were riding at anchor in 
the harbor, and their sides were lined with a row of 
bronzed faces, whose owners cheered us heartily as 
we passed slowly by. Fort Macon, of Burnside fame, 
soon made its appearance on our left, its guns com- 
manding both land and water in all directions, and its 
ramparts dotted with the garrison who welcomed us 
as we drew near. The fort is apparently on an island, 
but is really on the point of a long neck of land run- 
ning back for some miles before uniting with the 
main. It has been greatly strengthened since it 
came into our hands, and, in conjunction with the 
gun -boats, bids defiance to any foe. 

Beaufort lies on the opposite side of the harbor, 
and presents a very pretty appearance as seen at a 
distance from the water, but does not improve on a 
closer acquaintance. The attention is immediately 
attracted by a large white building standing on the 
very edge of the water, resting under the shadow of 
the Stars and Stripes. Formerly the hotel of the 
place and the summer resort of North Carolinians, it 
no longer echoes to the tread of the elite of New- 
bern, but as a government hospital is filled with 
the poor fellows parched with the fevers which all 
summer infest the sand -plains on the Neuse, and who 
doubtless enjoy the cool breezes from the Atlantic, 



I 6 THE VOYAGE. 

and the delicious sea -bath quite as much as those 
who formerly thronged the place. 

Soon the depot came in sight, and there stood the 
long train of platform cars, waiting to convey some of 
us to our destination. The idea of spending another 
night on the water was almost unendurable, but sud- 
denly we perceived quite a commotion on the decks 
of our leader, and to our great delight it was soon evi- 
dent that she was aground. Feeling our way, as it 
were, step by step, we drew nearer, and a perfect yell 
of exultation went up from our vessel as we glided by 
our discomfited rival, and, rejoicing over our victory, 
steamed alonoside the wharf of what was once the 
Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, but now is 
known as the United States Military Railroad. 

We were quickly disembarked, and soon closely 
packed on the open freight cars, rather a novel mode 
of conveyance to most of us, but one to be recom- 
mended as admirably adapted to sight -seeing, and in 
pleasant weather both airy and agreeable. Leaving 
the 43d and 46th to pass another night on shipboard, 
our train was soon on its way to Newbern, distant 
about forty miles. Our first stop was at Morehead 
City, though why called "city" it would be hard to say, 
as it contains but a few miserable houses and a for- 
lorn-looking hotel, famous as the residence, for a time, 
of Company C of the 45th, who were quartered there 
as garrison. Every little while a picket-station would 
come in view, and now and then a camp whose occu- 
pants greeted us with shouts of welcome and inquiries 
as to our State, number of our regiment, latest news, 
etc. A blockhouse commanding the bridge over a 
small creek was a novelty, and, as long as daylight 



THE VOYAGE. I 7 

lasted, we found enough that was new and interestino- 
to keep our eyes fully occupied. The country itself 
through which the road passes is wholly devoid of 
interest — in fact, a vast swamp covered with pine 
forests, which extend over a great part of the eastern 
section of the state; tar, pitch and turpentine being 
correctly given by the geography as among the prin- 
cipal productions. 

It was quite dark when the train drew near the town 
of Newbern, and slowly crossino- the lono- brid^re 
which spans the river Trent, passed up what we after- 
wards discovered to be Hancock street, liq-hted, to 
our great astonishment, with gas. We finally came to 
a halt before a long freight-house, where a quantity of 
oats was stored in bags. This building- was assigned 
to the right wing as their quarters for the night, and 
after our cramped bunks on shipboard, we found the 
oat-bags very acceptable. The left wing passed the 
night in some vacant tents near at hand. 

As we were decidedly cold and hungry after our 
ride, the arrival of some of the 44th Mass., with pails 
of hot coffee, was very opportune, and we regaled 
them with the latest news from home in return for 

« 

their kindness. Their description of the hardships 
endured on the Tarboro' expedition, from which they 
had just returned, did not tend to heighten our 
already very far from pleasant impressions of North 
Carolina as a place of abode. 

As we were taught the productions of North Caro- 
lina in our youth, the negro stood first on the list, and 
certainly we had seen no reason to belie that state- 
ment. We had not ceased lauo^hino- from the time we 
landed, at the comical figures which met us on e\ery 



1 8 THE VOYAGE. 

hand. It was the first object to meet our eye at the 
wharf, and I doubt not the last thing visible as we left 
the shores of Beaufort on our return. We no longer 
wondered where the minstrels at the north procured 
their absurd costumes; here was material for an end- 
less variety. It was better than any play simply to 
walk about and examine the different styles of dress, 
for this was before anything had been done at the 
north for the contrabands, and they appeared in the 
rags they had brought from their plantations. It was 
amusing to listen to the questions which greeted them 
from all sides, the bright answers often displaying 
more sense than did the questions. Some of our men 
seemed to have taken it for granted that all the tales 
they had read of the horrors of slavery were the gen- 
eral rule, and that the great aim and object of every 
master's life was to abuse and maltreat the slave in 
every possible way. The erroneous and absurd 
notions at first entertained by them of the state of 
southern society, could only be equalled by the opin- 
ions of our southern friends about the north. One 
question asked will serve as an illustration. We were 
grouped around a fire that first night, talking with 
some bright little contrabands, when one of oui* num- 
ber asked one " If his master ever let him stand by 
such a nice fire as that," which in that land of pines 
certainly was rather ridiculous, and, for a Boston 
boy, rather an insult to his bringing up. 

We employed the two or three hours of leisure the 
next morning in a tour of inspection through the 
town. W^ith our eyes still dazzled with the bright 
effulgence of the New England metropolis, and unac- 
customed to the darkness of that benighted land, we 



THE VOYAGE. 



^9 



unhesitatingly pronounced it the meanest, dirtiest spot 
we had ever set foot in. But it did not take many 
weeks of camp Hfe, where the only houses visible 
were the barracks and a few miserable neoro hovels, 
to create a very decided change in our views upon this 
subject, as well as on many others of like nature. 

The town is very prettily situated at the confluence 
of the Neuse and Trent, the former between one and 
two miles wide at this point, the latter something less 
than a mile. It is laid out quite regularly and abounds 
in elms and Hower gardens, many of them very beau- 
tiful, and relieving the otherwise ugly streets. We 
became better, in fact most intimately, acquainted with 
the place when we were quartered there, and a more 
minute description wdll be found further on. Our 
first impressions received that morning were, however, 
certainly the reverse of pleasant. 




jlf' . ^ ■ V .'°''-''. " "^ THE TK£NT- t's.c.1!'.)---;, j j 

4li . .M. 'MM'^^^i^4\i 



^■1 — -..,.i._. ' * - ' ;>^i- i '_:"v. ' 




h b J H i\ I I'M 'T H i: L rt Tv k fi ^ K i . 



CHAPTER III. 

CAMP AMORY ON THE TRENT. 

RETURNING to the freight house where the 
night had been spent, we shouldered our 
- guns and knapsacks and started en route 
for our new home. Passing through the town, and 
recrossing the railroad bridge, we left the line of the 
railroad and took the road running along the edge of 
the Trent. After toiling through the sand for about 
a mile, we came upon a negro settlement and a long 
row of stables, once rebel cavalry quarters, now used 
for government team horses and as a sort of wagon 
station. An old canal boat, mounting two heavy 
guns, commands the spot as well as the surrounding 
country, which has been cleared of trees on both 
sides of the river to give free range to the artillery. 

Shortly after leaving this dirty village, the barracks 
assigned us came in view, about half a mile up the 
river, a most welcome sight, for the day was hot, the 
road very sandy and our load heavy. The 17th 
Mass. were encamped in tents near by, and as our 
regiment approached, they turned out to meet us 
and give us welcome. Poor fellows! they looked 
forlorn enough, thin and pale, almost all of them 
havino- had the chills or some fever through the 



22 CAMP AMORY ON THE TRENT. 

summer, from ^vl^ich they were just recovering, a 
great part of the regiment being still in hospital. 

On reaching our destination, knapsacks were quick- 
1}' unslung, and we hastened to inspect our new quar- 
ters. The barracks — unlike those at Readville — 
consisted of two lono- buildinos, each arranged for 
five companies. They were at right angles with the 
river, and parallel to each other, some three hundred 
feet apart. The hospital tents were located midway 
between the buildings, but after a time the hospital 
was transferred to the barracks, rendered vacant bv 
the detail of two of the companies. The officers 
occupied tents, which were pitched away from and 
opposite the river, facing and forming one side 
of a quadrangle, enclosed by the river, the barracks 
and the tents. Beyond the officers' quarters was the 
parade-ground, while the drill -ground lay in every 
direction. 

Directly in the rear of the north barrack, ran the 
main road from Newbern south to Beaufort, cross- 
ing the Trent at this point, on what is called the 
Countv bridoe. The brido'e was commanded at that 
tinie by a little earthwork, called Fort Gaston, which 
mounted two guns, to all appearance more dangerous 
to those in their rear than in their front ; this cele- 
brated fort was for a long time garrisoned by one man 
detailed regularly from the camp guard. 

An immense plain stretched out in front of us, 
some two or three miles in length, and a mile in 
width, bounded in our rear by the river, and skirted 
on all sides by fine forests. For the last two or three 
years, these have been gradually disappearing before 
the axe of the pioneer, thus leaving the approach to 



CAMP AMORV ON THE TRENT. 23 

the city from this direction wholly under command 
of eun- boats on either of the rivers. 

On the edge of the woods, on the opposite side of 
the plain, gleamed the white tents of the 23d Mass., 
just relieved from provost duty. The 43d went into 
camp a short distance beyond us, and not many weeks 
after our own arrival, the 51st Mass. were quartered 
in the barracks next beyond ours. 

The camp took its name from Colonel Amory of 
the 1 7th Mass., who had command of our brigade, 
composed at first of the 17th, 23d, 43d, and 45th 
Mass. Later, the 51st Mass. took the place of the 
23d, when the latter regiment was ordered into 
another department. 

The first day or two was spent in establishing our- 
selves comfortably in our new quarters, writing letters, 
undergoing an inspection by our corps commander. 
Gen. Foster, and strolling about the adjacent country, 
seeino- the siirhts and making friends with our neigh- 
bors, black as well as white. The camp swarmed with 
contrabands of all ages and both sexes, some with eat- 
ables to sell, apples, pies, cakes, biscuit and sweet pota- 
toes, others wanting to take in washing. The boys 
wished to hire out as servants, and at such cheap 
rates that we all immediately had one attached to us, 
as a sort of body-guard, to run errands, draw water, 
wash dishes, and live on our leavings. 

The negro huts in the vicinity of the camp were 
often visited by the curious, and the mode of life in 
them afforded us much pleasure, as it was at the 
same time novel and amusing. "Ole Aunt Gatsy" 
was quite a favorite with a select few who had 
discovered her various excellencies, and we were 



24 CAMP AM(JkY ON THE TRENT. 

indebted to her cuisine for many a nice meal. Her 
method of cooking seemed very strange to eyes accus- 
tomed to ranges and stoves, and is worthy of mention. 
All the cooking is done at an open wood fire, the 
chimney always standing outside the house. The 
principal implement of cookery is an iron pot with 
short legs and a flat iron cover, somewhat larger than 
the mouth of the pot. After raking out a nice bed 
of coals, the food, no matter whether a bake, roast or 
boil, is placed in the pot over the coals, and the cover 
is kept constantly sprinkled with fresh coals until 
the contents are cooked. They also use the ordinary 
stew-pan, and earthen ovens in which they build huge 
fires, and, after the earth is thoroughly heated, put 
in the meat or whatever it may be, close both door 
and chimney, and in due time produce a joint of 
beef, or a dish of baked beans fit for the most epicu- 
rean New Eno-lander. 

We soon settled down into a quiet, monotonous life 
of drill and guard duty, more wearisome than arduous. 
The broad expanse of plain which stretched out before 
our camp was large enough for an army to manoeuvre 
upon, and the officers certainly made the most of their 
opportunity, for company, battalion and brigade drills 
followed one another so closely that one had scarcely 
time to think in the intervening moments. A very 
semi -occasional visit to town served as a pleasant little 
episode, by giving us a glimpse of an approach at least 
to a civilized existence, thereby preventing us from 
wholly lapsing into barbarism. 

Nor were our Sundays by any means days of rest; 
for as regularly as the day itself, the weekly inspec- 
tion of both quarters and men came round. The 



CAMP AMORY ON THE TRENT. 25 

amount of cleaning done every Sunday was something 
awful. Guns had to be taken apart and made to look 
better than when they left the armory, brasses to be 
polished, shoes and equipments blacked, and bunks 
and barracks put in perfect order. This was varied 
occasionally by a knapsack inspection, which con- 
sisted in standing in the hot sun for an hour or two, 
our knapsacks on our backs, apparently filled with 
all our worldly goods ; but appearances are sometimes 
deceitful, and so were our knapsacks, but if they only 
looked full, we were perfectly content. 

In the afternoon we formed a hollow square and had 
a reo-ular New Eno-land service, with a clear, practical 
sermon from the chaplain, finishing the exercises with 
the Doxology, in which both band and regiment were 
wont to join. The day closed with the usual dress- 
parade and a prayer meeting in the evening conducted 
by the chaplain. 

Thanksgiving Day being close at hand, most of us 
began to busy ourselves making preparations for a 
proper observance of the day. Mysterious trips to 
town, frequent visits to Aunt Gatsy's, and a great 
scarcity of ready money were the most observable 
features. Thanksgiving eve arrived at last, clear and 
cold, and after the labors for the day were ended, we 
built a famous large fire in our barracks, and long 
after taps remained grouped about it, talking of home 
and former times in old Massachusetts when this 
anniversary came round. One by one the men 
dropped off to bed, until but four of us remained, 
when one of our number proposed whist by fire-light. 
The cards were quickly produced, and an impromptu 
lunch of crackers and cheese, apples and lemonade. 



4 



26 CAMP AMORY ON THE TRENT. 

contributed from our private stores, and there we 
played till the waning light of the fire warned us that 
our supply of wood was exhausted, whereupon we 
crept noiselessly to our bunks, not daring to think 
how soon the inexorable reveille would break in upon 
our slumbers. 

After a sermon in the morning from the chaplain, in 
accordance with the good old custom of New Eng- 
land, the day was given as a holiday, and thanks to 
Old Aunty, our little party of six sat down to a repast 
which would not have disgraced any board in the 
land, and all agreed that we had rarely enjoyed a 
dinner more. 

About this time, Colonel Codman received orders 
to detail two companies for special service, and for 
several days quite an excitement prevailed as to which 
they were to be. The question was settled by the 
departure, on the first of December, of Company C, 
for Morehead City, and on the next day, of Company 
G, under command of Lieutenant Thayer, for Fort 
Macon. Several of the officers and many of the men 
were also detached from the regiment about this same 
time. Captain Murdock, of Company G, went on to 
Colonel Amory's staff, as aide, and Lieutenant 
Dewson as Brigade Quarter-Master, his place being 
filled by Lieutenant Emmons, of Company E. Lieu- 
tenants Richardson, of Company A, and Blagden, of 
Company I, went into the Signal Corps, and never 
rejoined their command. The men were variously 
distributed, some on signal service, many as clerks at 
the various headquarters, assistants in the hospitals, 
teamsters, etc., thus materially weakening the regi- 
ment in point of numbers by these heavy details. 



CAMP AMORY ON THE TRENT. 



27 



The first time the men went out on picket they 
made preparations enough for an expedition, and bade 
good-bye as if at the very least they were sure for 
Richmond, instead of simply bivouacing for a night 
across the Trent, The truth is, that so far from 
resembling that on the Potomac, picketing was with 
us rather a pleasant diversion than otherwise. There 
were six stations, all on the other side the Trent ; the 
outermost station directly on the river, the others at 
intervals along the road. Each station was under 
command of a corporal; and the guard, equipped with 
blankets and rations, went out one morning and were 
relieved the next. Intended as a safeguard, and 
rather for practice than from any real expectation of 
an approach of the enemy in that direction, we had 
nevertheless, one night, an example of the practical 
working and great advantage of the picket guard. 
One of the outermost station fired upon what in the 
darkness he took to be a body of rebels, and the 
alarm was immediately communicated to the camp 
guard. The drummers beat the long roll, and in a 
very short time the whole camp was aroused, the regi- 
ment in line, and in readiness for the enemy whenever 
he saw fit to come. It was well for us, however, that 
we did not wait till he did come, but after standing 
shiverino; in the cold nio-ht air for about an hour, 
went back to the barracks, otherwise we might 
have stood there to this day. 

The road to Newbern was considerably altered 
in appearance by the arrival of General Wessel's divi- 
sion of New York and Pennsylvania troops from 
Suffolk, Va., which encamped about half a mile from 
us; and as every day brought news of fresh arrivals, it 



2S CAMP AMORY ON THE TRENT. 

was verv evident that some movement was on foot in 
our department. Rumor was very busy about these 
times, and the camp was full of reports and stories. 
Charleston, Wilmington, and even Richmond itself 
were named as our destination. Nothing was thought, 
talked, or dreamt of, but the probable expedition, and 
if it had ended in talk, our loss under the influence 
of undue excitement would have been xerv heavv. 
But about the eighth of December, our feelings were 
somewhat relieved by the reading of marching orders 
to the regiment, three days being given to prepare for 
the march. 

The note of preparation sounded through the 
camp, and all was bustle and confusion. Knapsacks 
were filled to overflowing with all our worldly pos- 
sessions, and stowed in a schooner which came up the 
river to receive them, so that in case of an attack 
or fire in our absence, thev at least miq-ht be secure, 
and indeed such 2:ood care did those on board take, 
that they have kept some of our things to this day. 

It fell to my lot to be detailed on picket the last 
day, and so entrusting my property to the tender 
mercies of mv chum, the s^uard started for the other 
side of the river, whoUv iarnorant as to whether thev 
were to be left behind or not. However, having three 
old whalers from Nantucket as companions in misery, 
the day passed away very quickly, listening to their 
tales of sea life, its pleasures and dangers, but above 
all, its superiority to the life of a soldier. But my 
special wonder and admiration was excited by wit- 
nessins: the relish with which thev devoured the salt 
junk at their dinner, actually preferring it to fresh 
beef, to me a most unaccountable taste. 



CAMP AMORY ON THE TRENT. 29 

The nio-ht was bright and clear, and the moonlioht 
glimmering through the tops of the old pine trees, lit 
up the scene just around us, but deepened the black- 
ness of the shadows which hid themselves in the 
surrounding forest. As we sat round the smoulder- 
ino- embers of the deadened fire, wonderina^ as to our 
probable fortune, whether the morrow would behold 
us on the march with the regiment, or ignominiously 
left behind to guard the camp, our doubts and fears 
were set at rest by the arrival of the lieutenant of the 
guard. He informed us that at ten o'clock the pickets 
were to be taken in, and at that hour we were to pro- 
ceed to the barracks as quietly as possible. The hour 
came at last, and rolling up our blankets and shoulder- 
ino- our ouns, before Ions: we were once more in 
camp. 

Durino^ our absence all our oroods had been re- 
moved, rations distributed, and ammunition given out; 
while in anticipation of the hard work before them, 
all were sleeping quietly in their bunks, some poor 
fellows for the last time. Making all our preparations 
for the morrow as speedily as possible, we crawled 
upon the boards, and soon forgot our trials in the 
land of dreams. 




o 

I— I 
O 



CHAPTER IV. 



ON THE MARCH. 



'^ f^^HE first tap of the drum at early morn of the 
I eleventh instant, aroused us with that faint 

-^ consciousness of something important before 
us, with which the sleeper always wakens on the day 
of some long - expected event. The last preparations 
were gone through, blankets rolled, canteens filled and 
lost straps found, while hurry and confusion reigned 
supreme in the various quarters. 

At last, everything was in readiness, and as the 
impatient drums sounded the assembly call, we 
marched out on the parade-ground as if for a review. 
The line was formed, with the pioneers in advance, 
and with band playing and colors flying, the 45th 
started on its first expedition, their hearts beating high 
with hope and enthusiasm. On every side of us 
trooped our contraband camp followers, laden down 
with all manner of strange things, such as the inge- 
nuity of an inexperienced officer's mind could suggest 
as likely to contribute to his wants and comfort, 
from a cookincj-stove to a shoe-brush. The two 
miles of sandy road which lay between the camp and 
the town, served in a measure to dampen the ardor of 
some of the more demonstrative ones, and more than 



32 



ON THE MARCH. 



one armor vest, which the kind but injudicious care 
of friends had provided, was left to rest by the wayside 
before the end of those first two miles. 

On reaching the city we found the streets crowded 
with troops of every description, infantry, cavalry and 
artillery, massed together in almost endless confusion. 
But after two or three hours delay, the different com- 
manders began to find their proper positions in the 
line of march, and about eleven o'clock of the eleventh 
of December, the long column moved forward. 

Past Fort Totten, out on the Trent road, the line 
for a short time presented an orderly appearance. But 
soon there was a bridge to cross, a great puddle to 
pick your way around or go splashing through, as 
inclination directed ; then a stream, whose bridge was 
a log on one side, admitting only of single file, the 
water, yellow and dirty, looking suspiciously deep for 
wadino-. The unfortunates in the rear had to make 
up for these delays by frequent double-quick, until at 
length all distinction, not merely of regiments but 
also of companies, had disappeared. The march 
subsided into a mere race between individuals, all 
making for some unknown object ahead, at the high- 
est rate of speed. On ! On ! Will the column never 
halt, or have the advance suddenly become possessed 
of cork leo-s, which like those in the song, will never 
stop, thought the poor fellows on this first morning 
of their march, when those fell enemies of the soldier, 
sore feet, lame backs and aching limbs, became clam- 
orous for their victims. 

At last, came the halt for dinner, and most of us 
experienced a full realization of the blessedness of 
rest, while our hard -tack and coffee was like the milk 



ON THE MARCH. 



33 



and honey to the Jews, But time and our leaders are 
inexorable, and already the lengthening shadows 
reprove delay, so once more the hurrying, tearing pace 
begins. But now our colonel has made a wise rule, 
that on passing any obstacle tending to delay the 
rear, the head of the regiment shall halt until the last 
company has passed. This prevents the recurrence 
of intervals so disheartenino- for those in the rear 
to see opening before them, and requiring an extra 
effort to make up the lost space. 

We had little leisure that first day to examine the 
country about us, but every now and then a deserted 
house, the forlorn, desolate appearance of those still 
occupied, and the looks of the miserable, half-starved 
creatures, who, with undisguised hatred in their eyes, 
stood gazing on the moving tide of Yankee soldiery, 
gave but too good evidence that the iron hand of war 
had been laid very heavily upon this people. Truly, 
they were suffering for the sins of their leaders, and 
their hatred of the Northern troops was not to be 
wondered at, when they slaughtered their cattle, seized 
their horses, plundered their poultry yards, and even 
entered their houses and snatched the food from their 
mouths, without so much as a "by your leave." 

Our progress became slower as evening drew near, 
and several times the column was obliged to halt to 
allow time for the rebuilding; of bridoes which were 
destroyed by the enemy on our approach. Darkness 
soon enveloped us, but the weary train still pressed 
on. At last, however, our hearts were gladdened by 
the distant gleam of light flashing in the horizon, for 
we soon learned that it was caused by the fires of our 
advance sfuard. 

5 



34 ON THE MARCH. 

Our burden grew lighter as we hurried forward, 
refreshed by the sight, and when at last, descending a 
hill, we emerged from the woods which skirted its 
brow, a scene burst upon our startled vision which, in 
its picturesque beauty, almost repaid us for the long 
and weary way we had traversed before reaching it. 

A large field, stretching for nearly a mile to the left 
of the road, was streaked with long rows of fires, made 
of dry pitch-pine rails, and as the figures flitted about 
midst the fires, weird shadows were thrown against 
the black woods and sky beyond. It seemed like 
a glimpse into some other world, and when our regi- 
ment, and the many others in the rear, reached the 
fairy spot, and added their fires to the grand illumina- 
tion, the heavens became red with flame. 

Most of us were through with work for that night, 
and had no harder task to perform than to collect a 
few rails, boil some coffee, and after supper make our- 
selves comfortable for the night. But all were not so 
fortunate, for some were detailed for picket duty, and 
as for the poor pioneers, the enemy, in their retreat, 
had laid out several hours' work for them, by felling 
trees across the road for nearly half a mile, rendering- 
it impassable for the artillery. The choppers had 
almost completed their job, and had left one huge 
old pine, beyond which, preparatory to commencing 
the attack, they had built a roaring fire in the middle 
of the road. Suddenly, up rode one of the 3d 
N. Y. Cavalry, leading a second horse, laden with a 
foraged bag of grain. He was very impatient to rejoin 
his comrades, encamped some distance in advance of 
the main body, and all advice to wait for the removal 
of the obstacle proved of no avail. Wheeling about, 



ON THE MARCH. 



35 



and riding back a few rods, he started the two horses 
on the full gallop, leaped the tree, directly into the 
fire, dashed on, and was quickly lost in the thick 
darkness beyond. 

Refreshed by our night's rest, we were roused at 
early dawn by the reveille -call of the bugle, and soon 
the whole camp was astir. Breakfast, which, like 
both the other meals, consisted of hard -tack and cof- 
fee, except when a successful foraging tour increased 
our commissariat, was soon disposed of, and we 
started on the second day's march. Wading a broad 
stream, at the very outset, relieved us from all fear of 
wetting our feet, and enabled us to travel regardless 
of mud and water. We were all becominor niore 
accustomed to the work before us, though whether 
that proved of any practical benefit in rendering the 
labor easier, is still an open question. 

As we had loaded our o-uns before startino- that 
morning, we confidently expected to meet the enemy 
before the close of the day ; but, though occasional 
firing was to be heard at the front, the skirmishing 
of our advance with the rear of the enemy, nothing 
of the foe was to be seen, except some prisoners cap- 
tured by the cavalry, several of them wounded. It 
was a sad spectacle, the sight of the poor rebels in 
their forlorn condition, so gaunt and filthy, most mis- 
erably clad, and above all, wounded and captive. The 
horrors of war were indeed becoming a dread reality 
and no longer mere printed words. Another sad 
sight was to see the men straggling. Poor fellows, 
who, reduced by fever in the summer, and but scarcely 
dismissed from the hospital, lined the road, utterly 
exhausted and unable to drag one limb after the 



36 ON THE MARCH. 

other. Others, from our own ranks, unaccustomed to 
such hard work, and used u}) by the marcli of the day 
previous, were compelled to fall out and rest, after an 
hour or two of vain attempts to keep up with the 
hurrying crowd. 

The country grew pleasanter as we advanced, and 
food seemed much more plentiful; the woods swarmed 
with wild pigs; cattleand poultry were quite abundant, 
and occasionally a hive of honey was discovered, and 
quickly dismounted and robbed, regardless of its fiery 
occupants.. Halts were more frequent that day, and 
as the camping-ground was earlier reached, the 
bivouac was so much the more comfortable. The 
nioht was quite cold, and the i^round stiff and frozen 
in the morning, but we soon thawed ourselves out 
before the rekindled fires. Some of the improvident 
ones awoke to a sense of their folly, in having 
emptied their haversacks at the end of the second 
day, not having considered the simple problem that 
if three days rations are eaten in two days, the third 
day they must either beg or starve. 

We had a very easy day's work on the thirteenth, 
for after marching a few hours, firing commenced in 
the front, and orders came for us to hurry forward, as 
the enemy had made a stand. As we pressed eagerly 
onward, the cry was passed along from the rear, of 
"Give way, right and left, for artillery!" We were 
marching through a long, level stretch of pine forest, 
and as the men fell back on each side of the road, we 
could see the batteries approaching in the distance. 
As they drew near, the leader shouted, "Gallop!" and 
on they came, the horses on the full run, the guns 
rattling and jumping, the men clinging to their seats 



ON THE MARCH. 



Z7 



for clear life, to prevent being dismounted by some 
extra jounce, but smiling as if going to parade. Cheer 
after cheer greeted each successive piece as it rushed 
through our ranks on to the front, and we all felt sure 
that with such support we could brave any foe. 

Leaving the main road, the regiment filed into a 
cleared space, where the advance had halted and was 
drawn up in line of battle with the rest of the l)ri<)ade. 
The skirmishers advanced and disappeared in the 
woods, and we awaited anxiously our orders to move; 
but after a few shots from cavalry and skirmishers, 
the enemy fell back, leaving in our possession two 
small pieces of artillery. It was decided to halt for 
the night, to give the men a good rest, as our prox- 
imity to Kinston made a fight the next day almost 
inevitable. 




-.^^rgs;-:2^s^t 





















\ 



The 45- 

kV KinbLon. N/.C. 




huu 







CHAPTER V. 



OUR BATTLES. 



THE quiet afternoon and long night's rest 
refreshed us most wonderfully, and we woke 
the next morning, Sunday, the fourteenth, 
free from all fatigue. It was a bright, beautiful day, 
and we broke camp in high spirits, ready for whatever 
might happen, and yet with no conception of the 
dread realities actually before us, and in which we 
were to enact a part. 

After marching two or three miles, firing once more 
commenced at the front, and hurrying on, the regi- 
ment was halted at the corner of a road which ran 
directly to the river Neuse. Presently, a section of 
artillery arrived, and passing into a field just before 
us, began to shell the woods. 

As we waited there, momentarily expecting to enter 
the fight already begun, one of our number, amid the 
roar of artillery and occasional roll of musketry, began 
the hymn, forever associated in the minds of those 
present with that scene, "Ye Christian Heroes go 
Proclaim," in which we all joined. It was his last 
song upon earth, but how nobly did he earn the title 
of "Christian Hero," and what death more glorious 
than with such words yet lingering on his lips, to 



40 OUR BATTLES. 

freely surrender his life at the altar of his country's 
liberty. His name will ever be cherished with love 
and reverence by all who knew him, and we can 
rejoice with his friends who mourn his loss, that he is 
enjoying his fit reward, an immortal crown of glory. 

Soon the order came for the 45th to advance; so, 
marching by the right flank, we left the road and 
entered the woods, passing directly in front of the 
battery, and most unfortunately in its range. Before 
notice could be given to the oflficer in command, two 
successive shells had killed three of our number, 
besides slightly wounding others. It was a sad omen 
with which to enter the fight, but on we pushed and 
soon faced to the front and advanced, deployed as 
skirmishers. 

We quickly found ourselves in the midst of a regu- 
lar North Carolina swamp, which in ordinary times 
would be considered impenetrable. Mud and water 
w^aist deep, how much deeper none stopped to see, 
roots to trip the careless foot, briers innumerable to 
make havoc with our clothes, to say nothing of an 
occasional stray bullet, which, finding its way through 
the trees, whistled over our heads, and contributed to 
the pleasantness of the position. But it needed more 
than mud and water, or even a stray bullet, to check 
us, and so on we crept, crawled and waded, the bullets 
becoming thicker as w^e advanced, until we conquered 
the swamp and gained a position where the ground 
rose slio-htly towards the enemv, and was thinlv cov- 
ered with young oaks and underbrush. Here we 
quickly obeyed the order "Lie down!" 

The reuiment formed in a sort of semi -circle around 
the edge of the woods, but the line was too much 



OUR BATTLES. 



41 



extended to be efficient in a charge, as we soon found. 
We retained this position for about an hour amid an 
unceasing storm of bullets, shot and shell, which, 
thanks to the elevation of the ground, passed in a 
great measure just above our heads and riddled the 
trees in our rear. Too many, however, found a rest- 
ing place in a soldier's body, and the dead and 
wounded lay in every direction. We fired at will, as 
we found opportunity, our regiment, the 10th Con- 
necticut and 103d Pennsylvania, who following in our 
footsteps had gained the same position, all lying 
together, regardless of company or regiment. 

At last, the order came to fix bayonets, and then to 
charge. The left wing, together with the Connecticut 
and Pennsylvania troops, sprang to their feet, and with 
a loud cr)^ broke from the cover. At the same 
moment, the enemy gave way and retreated post- 
haste across the bridge which leads to Kinston. But 
the extended line of our regiment, scattered as it was 
through the woods, and the impossibility of conveying 
an order in the din of battle, simultaneously to all 
parts of the line, prevented a united movement, and 
those who had received and obeyed the order to 
charge were soon halted, to enable the scattered ranks 
to reunite. 

But the day was won, and the rebels, in full retreat 
across the river, received an occasional reminder in 
the shape of a shell from our guns, which hastened 
their speed till it became a run. 

We discovered, on emerging from the woods, that 
the enemy had been sheltered behind fences on both 
sides of the road. This enabled them to concentrate 
upon us a cross fire. An old barn -like church had 

6 



42 OUR BATTLES. 

also served to protect them in a measure. It was 
perforated with holes of all sizes, from that of the 
Minie-ball to the one caused by the thirty-two-pound 
shell. Dead bodies lay scattered about the floor, and 
our surgeons immediately appropriated it for a hos- 
pital. 

After a time, we marched down the road to the 
river, and turning down the Neuse road in the direc- 
tion of Newbern, went into camp a short distance 
from the bridge. Expecting to bivouac here, we com- 
menced our preparations for the night. Some of us, 
meantime, returned to the swamp to recover our 
blankets, overcoats and haversacks, cast aside at the 
commencement of the fight, and were fortunate enough 
to recover most of them. The dead and wounded lay 
scattered through the woods, and with sad hearts we 
rejoined our comrades, thankful that our lives had been 
spared. But our day's work was by no means ended, 
for scarcely had our party returned to the camping- 
ground, when the order came to fall in, and off we 
started across the bridge, which the rebels had made 
a vain attempt to burn in their retreat, and marched 
along the banks of the Neuse, till we reached the 
town of Kinston. 

The strategy which enabled General Foster to win 
this battle as easily as he did, was apparent when we 
came to understand the nature of the country and 
the works of the enemy. The rebels had evidently 
expected us to advance by the Neuse road, which runs 
along the riverside ; for, some distance from the bridge, 
a strong earth -work had been thrown up directly 
across the road, flanked on one side by a pond, on the 
other by a swamp. A long earth -work had also been 



OUR BATTLES. 43 

erected on the Kinston side of the river, commanding 
both roads and the bridge. 

The road taken by General Foster rendered the 
first mentioned work wholly useless, and the garrison 
was compelled to abandon it to prevent their separa- 
tion from the main command. The road taken by the 
main body of our force, makes a bend, which brings 
it to the bridge at right angles to the river. Nearly a 
quarter of a mile from this bend, a small cross-road 
connects with the Neuse road, thus enclosing a square, 
in which the enemy made their stand, compelled to 
fio-ht on what, to them, was the farther side of the 
river, and thus they were made dependent on the 
bridee for a means of retreat. 

The plan was to divide our force, the main body 
keeping straight forward, towards the bridge, and thus 
brins on a oencral eno-ao-ement, while meantime, a 
stroncr force was sent down the cross-road, in order 
to gain possession of the bridge, and so cut off their 
sole means of escape. This manoeuvre was only par- 
tially successful, as the rebels, discovering their immi- 
nent danger, gave way before the flanking force had 
reached the bridge. However, some five hundred 
prisoners were captured, as it was, and eleven cannon 
fell into our hands, to say nothing of small arms and 
commissary stores. 

Some seven thousand of the enemy, under command 
of General Evans, were engaged, and not many more 
on our side, as many of our regiments took no active 
part in the battle. When compared with many other 
battles of the war, it was a mere skirmish ; but veterans 
from the seven -days fight before Richmond, from 
Roanoke, and from Newbern, were unanimous in pro- 



44 f^UR BATTLES. 

nouncing the fire that day, to have been sharper than 
was experienced by them in any former battle. Gen- 
eral Foster, in his despatch, speaks of the " terrible 
fire " to which we were exposed. 

Kinston is rather a pretty place, regularly laid out, 
well shaded, and altogether very New England like. 
It is built directly on the Neuse, whose banks are 
high and steep at this point. We marched through the 
town, and halted at the outskirts, on the line of the 
railroad, which runs from Newbern to Goldsboro, and 
on which most of the enemy made good their retreat. 

After the camp had been selected, and our goods 
and chattels deposited, the band gave an impromptu 
concert, in honor of the victory, after which most of 
us started on a foraging expedition, seeking what we 
might devour. In this quest we were eminently suc- 
cessful. Our mess supped on broiled chicken and 
apple-jack, and others fared even more sumptuously. 
A large quantity of tobacco was also discovered and 
speedily confiscated. 

Hardly had we finished supper, and laid ourselves 
out for the night, when the order came for four com- 
panies to "fall in," and patrol the town. A house in 
the middle of the town had been fired, and as the 
flames had extended to one or two of the surrounding; 
buildings, there was a fair prospect of seeing the whole 
place in ashes before morning, unless the progress of 
the fire was arrested. Fortunately there were enough 
firemen to check any further spread of the mischief, 
and it devolved upon us to pass the greater half of the 
night patrolling the streets, preventing all disorder, 
and returning stragglers to their regiments. We 
found one fellow in a most happy frame of mind, 



OUR BATTLES. 45 

seated in a horseless chaise, evidently enjoying his 
ride intensely, and urging on the imaginary steed, as if 
on a race track, apple-jack, without question, having got 
the better of him. 

The moon came out in full splendor, to light us on 
our weary pilgrimage, as we traversed the streets back 
and forth, round and round. The captain occasionally 
coming to a halt, some of us employed the time by 
taking a nap on the sidewalk, or in the road, just as 
it happened. A colored gentleman accompanied us 
during part of our wanderings, showing off the place, 
pointing out the slave market, and other objects of 
interest. However, our desire for a more intimate 
acquaintance with the town was not so great but that 
we were ready to return to camp, somewhere in the 
small hours, and wrap up in our blankets for a short 
nap, after our day's work. 

We were up bright and early the next morning, and 
to our surprise, and the enemy's as well, Kinston was 
abandoned, and the river recrossed. The rear guard 
destroyed the bridge, which had cost us so much effort 
to save the day before, and we started once more in 
the direction of Goldsboro. It was very warm and 
dusty, and the march long and wearisome, but the 
country grew pleasanter the further inland we advanced, 
and the plantations appeared much more flourishing, 
so that we were more than usually rejoiced to reach 
the camp that night, and rest after our two days of 
hard work. 

After marching three or four miles the next morn- 
ing, Tuesday, the i6th, the boom of cannon, now quite 
familiar, was heard in the distance, and orders came 
for the 45th to hasten forward to the scene of action. 



46 OUR BATTLES. 

The road runs for some distance parallel to the river, 
through a large clearing, and then turns abruptly 
towards a bridge which spans the Neuse, leading to 
the town of Whitehall. The land rises to some 
height on the left side of the road, the brow of the 
hill being thinly covered with forest trees, while on 
the right it slopes to the wooded bank of the river. 

On the approach of our cavalry advance, the pre- 
vious night, the rebels had crossed the river, destroy- 
ing: the bridii'c in their retreat, and the fio'htinor was 
now going on at this point, the apparent object being 
to rebuild the bridge, and cross the river. The part 
taken in this fight by our regiment was rather passive 
than active, but none the less trying for that reason. 

A portion of a New York battery, being put in 
position on the rise of the hill, we were ordered to 
their support ; so, marching along the road till opposite 
the battery, we formed in line of battle, and then lay 
down, facing the river, and not many rods distant 
from it. Our situation was anything but an agreeable 
one, for not only did the rebel shot and bullets fall 
thick around us, but the shell from our own guns 
behind, passed so near as to render a recumbent pos- 
ture very desirable. An hour passed in this condition, 
without firing a gun, seemed, from the very inaction, 
much more like two or three ; but at leno-th the order 
was passed along the line to fall back to the other side 
of the road. So, crawling through, or scrambling over 
the fence which separated us from the field, we took 
up a new position, two or three rods further back, and 
directly the 3d Rhode Island Battery came thundering 
down the road, and unlimbering on the spot we had 
just vacated, began to pour a deadly fire across the 



OUR DATTLKS. 47 

river. While we occupied this position, our gallant 
Color Sergeant, Theodore Parkman, was struck in the 
head by a fragment of a shell, and almost instantly 
killed. But before the colors fell to the ground they 
were seized by the colonel himself, and though a 
mark for the deadly missiles of the sharp-shooters, 
which whistled close around him, he supported them 
till relieved by one of the color-guard. 

It is true we accomplished the destruction of a gun- 
boat, which was in process of construction at this place, 
but all this apparent effort to cross the river was 
merely a feint to occupy the attention of the enemy, 
and thereby cover a raid of the cavalry upon the Golds- 
boro and Wilminoton Railroad. It was most success- 
ful, for a battalion of the 3d New York having struck 
the road at Mt. Olive Station, took the people wholly 
by surprise. They came upon a crowd of passengers 
waiting for the train, which was, however, unavoidably 
detained on that day, at least, as they destroyed the 
track and telegraph for some miles, rejoining the main 
command without the loss of a man. 

We marched on some hours after the fight was over, 
finding the country much more hilly, and decidedly 
pleasanter. The latter part of the day, a few of us, 
wearying of the monotony of the march, started ahead 
on our own account, passing regiment after regiment. 
An occasional meeting with old friends among the 
Massachusetts troops, with whom we rehearsed the 
events of the past two or three days, created quite a 
pleasant diversion, and relieved to a great extent the 
tedium of the way. 




o 
o 

DQ 
(n 
Q 

O 
O 

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< 

DQ 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE RETURN. 



X TP to the last day's advance, our brigade had 
I been one of the first in line of march, but 

^^-^ that last day the 45th was detailed as guard 
over the baggage train, We were consequently pre- 
vented from participating in or even witnessing the 
-battle at the bridge where the railroad crosses the 
Neuse, a short distance from the town of Goldsboro, 
which resulted in the destruction of the bridge. 

Our regiment was drawn up in line by the road- 
side, awaiting orders, when General Foster and his 
staff came riding up from the scene of action. The 
general himself announced the successful accomplish- 
ment of the object of the expedition, which good news 
was received with loud cheers, followed by a salute 
from the band. 

At night- fall, on the return march, we had just 
reached the bivouac of the previous night, when 
firing was once more heard in the direction of Golds- 
boro, and presently an orderly dashed up with orders 
for us to hurry back, as an attack in force had been 
made by the enemy on our retiring column. This 
was anything but agreeable, as we were anticipat- 
ing a good supper and a quiet night; but war is inex- 

7 



50 



THE RETURN. 



orable, and so we faced about and hurried off on the 
back -track. At the end of four miles, the firing 
ceased, and soon word came that we were not wanted, 
and mioht once more turn our faces homeward. 

By this time it was quite dark, and the men very 
naturally felt cross and tired, and did not execute some 
order of the colonel as promptly as he thought right. 
Whereupon, he treated us on the spot to a drill in the 
manual, full fifteen minutes long. Our way back to 
camp was lit up by the blazing fences and pines which 
had caught from the fires made by the troops along the 
road at the various halting places, and presented a 
beautiful appearance, yet at the same time the scene 
was not wholly free from danger, as the burning trees 
were falling in all directions. The sky was red with 
the blaze, and it was a grand sight to watch the fire 
creep slowly up the trunks of the old dead pines, tow- 
ering high above the other trees, and gradually envel- 
ope them in one sheet of flame. 

The next day we were fully initiated into the mys- 
teries, as well as duties, of baggage guard. Four men 
were detailed to a wagon, two on each side, and off 
start the teams, most of them empty, at a rate of about 
ten or twelve miles an hour. Runnino- beside the 
wagon was rather severe exercise, and sitting with the 
driver almost an impossibility, strict orders being given 
by the w^agon -master to allow no one to ride. There 
was, therefore, nothing to be done but let them go 
their own gait, or else climb up and cling to the 
inverted trough, used in feeding the horses, which hangs 
at the back of most army wagons. The wise ones 
chose this latter course, and by constant practice 
acquired great cxpertness in getting on and off while 



THE RETURN. 



51 



at full speed. At length, by judiciously walking up 
the hills, occasionally presenting ourselves at the front 
of the wagon to show the driver we were on hand, and 
assisting in watering the horses, we worked on his 
feelings to such an extent that a seat by his side 
crowned our efforts. Our good fortune was, however, 
but short-lived, for the wagon-master, on discovering 
our comfortable position, most unceremoniously ejected 
us therefrom, leaving us to finish the journey on foot, 
for which kind act he has our grateful maledictions. 
Rations began to run very low about this time, and 
the houses on the road were very thoroughly searched 
and stripped of all things eatable. 

Our column presented a most singular appearance 
on the return march, for each one seemed to be his 
own commander, and all thoughts of company or regi- 
ment were wholly thrown aside. A most motley 
appearance we must have presented. Here comes 
one mounted on a nice horse, with a halter for his 
bridle, a blanket for his saddle ; another has found 
a home-made cart, into which, by dint of rope and 
strap, he has fastened some old Rosinante, a perfect 
match for the vehicle, and thus rides in state in his 
own carriage. There is a mule, which in its obstinacy 
causes the rider much more trouble, and consumes 
more time, than an equal amount of walking; while a 
strano-e crowd on foot, their faces black with the accu- 
mulation of nine days' dirt, armed with plunder of 
every shape and kind, from a sauce -pan to a feather 
pillow, hurry along, each one suiting his own conven- 
ience and acknowledging no other leader. 

It was a pretty hungry time for a day or two, and 
for one forty-eight hours but four hard-tack to a man 



52 



THE RETURN. 



were issued by the quartermaster, and those who were 
unsuccessful in their foraging went very hungry. The 
officers fared no better than the men, as the fol- 
lowing incident certainly bespeaks a most sharp and 
craving appetite. After we had gone into camp, on 
one of these nights of scarcity, a lieutenant in our regi- 
ment was prowling supperless about the staff head- 
quarters, and in the course of his wanderings came 
upon a contraband making a supper off the remains 
of the mess -table. Called away for a moment, he laid 
down his dish, leaving on it a bone not thoroughly 
picked ; but alas for the poor darkey ! when he returned, 
the bone was gone, and his feast was over, while the 
lieutenant alone remained to tell the story. 

Our expedition had its pleasures as well as its pains, 
and though perhaps not as numerous, yet they were all 
the choicer for their rarity. Passing through a strange 
country, where houses and people differed from what 
we were accustomed to, every object was novel and 
full of interest. Foraging was full of charm, not only 
because of the excitement it afforded, but from its 
utter lawlessness. It was something so entirely opposed 
to all civilized proceedings, to boldly enter a house 
and demand and take something to eat, or deliberately 
walk off with a goose or chicken, without so much as 
" by your leave " to the owner. 

Then this wild, out-of-door life; lying close to old 
Mother Earth, with the blue canopy of heaven for our 
covering; the merry camp-fires, surrounded after a 
day of toil by a circle of weary but contented faces, 
busy preparing supper. The more enterprising ones, 
who had been successful in their foraging, cooking 
their chicken or hoe-cake, or perhaps a bit of bacon 



THE RETURN. ^^ 

5o 



filched from some smoke-house, while the unlucky or 
lazy ones have only to boil their coffee and make a 
meal off of hard -tack, when they have any. Every 
ittle while a shout of dismay is heard as some luck- 
less wight stumbles over the end of the long rail which 
stretches out into the darkness, but on whose fire -end 
are nicely poised two or three cups of coffee, almost 
ready to drink, and their unfortunate owner sees the 
precious contents spilled into the fire. It was no 
small trial of temper, after going perhaps half a mile 
at the end of a wearisome march to fill your canteen 
with water, to lose both water and coffee by the awk 
wardness of some stupid fellow. The only equally 
provoking accident is, to have your blanket-straps give 
way while wading a mud-puddle, and see the blankets 
fall into the mud. 

The fine weather, with which we were favored was 
another pleasant feature of the expedition. The nights 
were cold, to be sure, but the air was clear and braclno- 
and we were spared all the discomforts of a stormy 
campaign. We learnt more of the true character of 
our comrades also, for nothing brings out the real worth 
of a man more than such an experience. Some, who 
had been very stout and bold-hearted in the anticipa- 
tion, sank utterly under the reality ; while others, from 
whom .little had been expected, now appeared as lively 
and active as if on a pleasure excursion, and occasion- 
ally you would see a noble-hearted fellow carrying two 
guns, or an extra se^t of blankets, but for whose kindly 
assistance some poor fellow would have given u]3 in 
utter despair. 

One of the saddest sights of the march was the 
great number of stragglers. We read in the newspa- 



54 



THE RETURN. 



pers of so many stragglers picked off by guerillas, or 
captured and missing, and one naturally supposes that 
these unlucky ones have wilfully strayed from the 
command, and suffered the penalty for their careless- 
ness and disobedience. But what is the reality .? As 
the column goes hurrying by, you catch a glimpse of 
a pale face lying by the road -side, faint and weary ; a 
few steps farther on, one w^ith his shoes off, bathing 
his blistered feet; here is a poor fellow whose summer 
has been spent in hospital, sick of a fever, and whose 
little stock of strength is soon exhausted ; these are 
the stragglers who reach the camp long after the 
others have made themselves comfortable for the 
night, and, after a restless night, they start off the 
next morning with a like prospect before them, until 
human endurance can hold out no longer. 

On the tenth night we found ourselves but eight 
miles from Newbern, and the next morning we started 
for the barracks with happy, thankful hearts. About 
noon of the eleventh day, after a march of more than 
one hundred and fifty miles, a motley crew, some with 
faces which had known no water during our absence, 
and all unshaven, tattered and torn, we once more set 
foot in Camp Amory on the Trent. After the luxury 
of a bath and change of clothes, w^e had a great treat 
in the budget of letters and pile of boxes which had 
been awaiting; our return, suQ^oestive of numberless 
feasts, to make up for the scanty fare on the march. 
Such was our first experience of the stern realities of 
war. Out of the eight companies who went on the 
expedition, seventeen men w'ere killed and sixty 
w^ounded, — one in every ten of the command. 

We soon fell into the old routine of camp life, the 



TJIK RETURN. 



55 



regimental lilDrary furnishing a supply of reading for 
the evenino- hours, and when readino; and writing 
failed, whist was always on hand, a never -failing 
resource. Not long after our return to camp, the 
regiment, in common with many others which were 
quartered in barracks, was visited by a deadly malaria, 
which carried off several brave fellows who had escaped 
the dangers of the march- only to fall victims to disease. 
As one after another was stricken down, and in a 
few short hours lay cold and still in death, a shadow 
fell upon us all, for none could tell whose turn would 
come next. We entered the service with the dan- 
gers of the battle-field distinctly before us, but 
this was a foe against which mortal might was 
powerless. There is a glory in a death in battle, 
but equal honor and equal praise is due to him who 
suffers for his country's good in a different way, and 
at her call gives up his life on the sick-bed, with 
a heroism equal to those who shed their life- 
blood in the fight. All honor and praise be to 
both. 

Being exempted from drill the day after guard duty, 
we used to make little excursions about the country; 
through the woods on the opposite side of the river, 
hunting after brier- root to make pipes, and also to 
collect logs for the barrack fire ; to the old brick house, 
once the mansion-house of the plantation upon which 
our camps were situated, now torn down, and the 
bricks converted into chimneys and ovens for the 
barracks, while the surrounding grove has fallen 
before the axes of the pioneer. Still farther off, 
stood the block -house on Brice's Creek, the outpost 
in this direction, a favorite resort, while near by was 



56 THE RETURN. 

a signal - tower, from which a fine view of Newbern 
and the vicinity could be obtained. 

Christmas came, marked by an absence of drill, and 
an extra dinner, followed by the New Year's day, so 
memorable on account of the Emancipation Procla- 
mation that day given to the world. But a very 
important event, and one long looked for, occurred 
early in January, which sent a thrill of joy throughout 
the department, — that was the arrival of the pay- 
master and our first pay-day. He had been coming 
every day for many weeks ; and some regiments had 
not been paid for more than six months, and their 
families were suffering for want of this dearly-earned 
money. But come he did, and a happy set of faces 
filled the long line as it filed by his table, receiv- 
ing the first earning in Uncle Sam's service. But 
transcendent in his joy was the sutler, who, seated by 
the paymaster, eyed the crisp bank-notes, and specu- 
lated how soon they would find their way into his 
rapacious maw. 



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Har.otack and Coffee. 



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CHAPTER VII. 

A TRIP TO TRENTON. 

WE had but fairly settled down to the old 
story of drill and parade, our lameness 
healed, and the excitement of the scenes 
through which we had so lately passed somewhat 
allayed, when rumors of another expedition began to 
float about the camp. These were vague at first, but 
increased in strength from day to day, until we became 
convinced of their truth by the announcement at dress- 
parade of the order to be in readiness on a certain 
day, with three days' rations ready cooked. Having 
learned wisdom by experience, we understood better 
how to prepare for a march. My first care w^as to 
procure a body-guard in the ejhape of a stout con- 
traband youth, to relieve me of my blankets and look 
after my interests generally ; the next was to make 
some provision for the inner man, additional to that 
of government, which had failed us before in the hour 
of need. Thanks to a box from home, a ham, not 
quite demolished, made an excellent substitute for salt 
junk, and a package of rice also found its way into our 
haversack. This possessed the double advantage of 
furnishing great nourishment and occupying but a 
small space in the bag. 

8 



5« 



A rR[P rO TRKNTON. 



Several gentlemen from Boston, who had arrived 
shortly before our departure, had an opportunity of 
seeing the regiment leave camp on an expedition. 
Our force consisted of one brigade of infantry, — 
ist Brigade, ist Division, i8th Army Corps, — a 
squadron of cavalry, with a small howitzer, and a 
section of artillery, all under command of Colonel 
Amory, our brigade commander. Two or three unsuc- 
cessful attempts to start had been made, as a storm 
prevented, but Saturday, the 17th, dawned, a clear, 
cold January day, and shortly after breakfast we left 
camp and were soon fairly on our way. While await- 
ing the arrival of the detachment of cavalry and artil- 
lery which was to accompany us, a very amusing scene 
occurred, in the shape of an extempore drill by some 
of the contrabands — our camp followers — under the 
leadership of a deep -voiced darkey, whose orders were, 
to say the least, remarkable : such as, " In three ranks 
count twos. Right smart, Git ! " while the execution of 
these manoeuvres was, if possible, even more ludicrous 
than the orders themselves. 

The first day's march w^as through an uninteresting- 
section of country, very sparsely settled, and more 
hilly than any we had passed through before. The 
march was quite reasonable, bringing us to the village 
of Pollocksville, distant a little more than twelve miles 
from Newbern. The town comprised only about half- 
a-dozen houses, remarkable solely for their homeh- 
ness. The place, however, once boasted a private 
school of some pretensions. The large white build- 
ing, not far from the town, standing a little distance 
from the road, immediately attracted our attention, 
and a halt occurring just then, we made an inspection. 



A 'IKIl' Kt 'IKENIf)\. 



59 



Some circulars were found settini>- fortli the merits of 
the school, and advising parents not to let the distrac- 
tions of war interfere with the education of their chil- 
dren. Hut teachers and scholars had alike disappeared 
long sine:}, and the building alone remained, forlorn 
and desolate. 

As we entered the village, two or three men were 
seen in the distance, and some of the cavalry immedi- 
ately dashed off at full run in hot pursuit, but, having 
gained the woods, they made good their escape. The 
half-dozen houses were mostly deserted, and extensive 
levies were made upon them for boards, which, covered 
with a sufficient number of weeds and stalks, made a 
bed fit for a king, and almost too luxurious for a sol- 
dier. Taking it quite leisurely the next morning, as 
some trees felled across the road caused delay, 
we started en route for Trenton, leaving part of our 
force to guard the baggage- train which remained at 
Pollocksville. 

This day's march was, without exception, the pleas- 
antest in all our experience. We were not hurried, as 
always before, and had some opportunity to look about 
and see the country through which we were passing. 
This section had been very little disturbed by raiding 
armies ; the plantations grew larger the further we ad- 
vanced, and the houses had a very comfortable, hospita- 
ble appearance, but as foraging was strictly forbidden, 
a close inspection was out of the question. For some 
distance the road skirted a cypress swamp, a most des- 
olate, gloomy spot, the old trees, hoary with the long- 
gray moss which hung in festoons from every limb, 
and surrounded with slimy water, suggestive of snakes 
and horrible reptiles, — secure retreat for the fugitive. 



60 A TRIP TO TRENTON. 

Our command entered Trenton without opposition, 
a small force of the enemy retreating in hot haste on 
the approach of our cavalry. After going into camp 
and disposing of our luggage, we wandered about the 
town, seeking what we might devour, but finding little 
to reward us for our pains. The town is prettily sit- 
uated on the river Trent, but the houses and people 
were forlorn and dirty enough. The post-office was 
ransacked, but little besides recruiting bills was to be 
found. One great object in coming to this place was 
to destroy the bridge across the Trent, and so prevent 
any advance on Newbern from this direction. Our 
arrival was a happy event for the slaves in and about 
the town, and they spent the night in preparation for 
their exodus from the land of bondao-e. The brido-e 
burned, we started on the back road, accompanied by 
a lonor train of contrabands. A mill at the entrance 
of the town was fired to prevent the use of its timbers 
for the reconstruction of the bridge, and some one at 
the same time let on the water, and as the groan of 
the machinery rose above the roar of the flames, we 
could imagine it some huge creature awaiting in 
agony a fiery death. 

The next night we spent at our old camp at Pol- 
locksville, and very narrowly escaped quite a seri- 
ous disaster; for the grass in the large field w^iere we 
encamped, being quite high and dry, took fire, and 
burned with such violence that it was only by great 
exertion that we saved our guns and traps from 
destruction. With replenished haversacks, we made 
a fresh start the next morninp' in the direction of 
Onslow Court House, following in the tracks of the 
cavalry, who had started the previous afternoon with 



A TRIP TO trp:nton. 6 I 

two pieces of artillery. Early in the afternoon wc 
reached a place called Young's Cross Roads, where 
the cavalry had captured an army wagon and a few 
prisoners. Here we bivouacked, and as the sky 
looked threatening, made preparations for a stormy 
night, for we were to await the return of the cavalry, 
or, if needful, go on to their support. 

While hard at work, making as good shelter as pos- 
sible with boards and rubber blankets, round came 
the orderly with the detail for picket duty, our name 
among the rest; so, dropping rails and boards, and 
once more donning our harness, we reported with our 
squad to the officer of the guard. The road we were 
detached to guard led to some mills, — Packard's, by 
name, — and every little while three or four men were 
dropped off under charge of a corporal, until the 
lieutenant announced that the next station would be 
the reserve, with a guard of twenty. Such of our 
company as were detailed on guard, were among this 
lucky number, and we quickly set to work to prepare 
our camp. 

Fortunately the spot selected was opposite to a 
clearing where there were several large piles of rails, 
ready for use. These were immediately appropriated 
and rigged up for a roof and floor. Meanwhile, some 
of the party, sent on a foraging expedition, returned 
with a supply of sweet potatoes and their tin cups filled 
with delicious honey. As we were at work, an old 
darkey came along in an ox -team with meal from the 
mill, and the poor fellow was unlucky enough to have 
on a rebel overcoat, the buttons of which quickly dis- 
appeared under the knives of trophy seekers. On 
coming to the main camp the meal was confiscated, 



62 A TRIP TO M KENTON. 

SO the old man decided that he would rather go with 
us to Newbern than face his master's wrath. 

As night came on, the sky grew blacker and blacker, 
and at length the storm burst upon us in all its fury^ 
r^or a time our arrangements worked nicely, and our 
rubber blankets formed a good protection overhead, 
but after a while the rain discovered the weak spots, 
and little streams of water be2:an to trickle into our 
faces and run down our backs. Sleep was out of the 
question, so we all got up and huddled about the 
embers of the smouldering fire, but to little purpose. 
The heavens seemed literally to have opened their 
flood-gates, and the floods descended. If we stepped 
off the rails we immediately sank knee -deep in mud, 
and our beds would have delighted the soul of the 
most fastidious porker; drenched from head to foot, 
with no prospect of even a wink of sleep, we w^aited 
as patiently as might be for the coming day. 

Towards morning the storm abated in violence; 
so we built up a roaring fire, and made ourselves com- 
paratively comfortable, our spirits returning with the 
light, and by ration time we were as bright as if we 
had passed a most delightful night. Having dried 
our clothes and blankets as well as the circumstances 
permitted, about nine o'clock we rejoined the regi- 
ment, most of whom had been drowned out in the 
night, and suffered an experience similar to our own. 
The cavalry had returned in the night, after riding 
about thirty miles, their progress having been stopped 
by the burning of a bridge near Onslow Court 
House. They were followed back by a long proces- 
sion of contrabands, with faces turned eastward. 

About half- past nine that same morning, we started 



A TRIP TO TRENTON. 63 

on our return march. The rahi had subsided into a 
fine drizzle, and the roads were somewhat inclined to 
be muddy. The head of the column pushed along as 
though hotly pursued by the enemy, stopping for about 
twenty minutes at the end of the first five miles. We 
hurried on through Pollocksville without halting, tak- 
ing a breathing spell and dinner just beyond the vil- 
laoe, and then the fun commenced. Mud was kino- 
that day. Not like our New England mud, barely 
deep enough to soil your boots, but real old Southern 
inud, fathomless, immeasurable. Every little while 
-we were greeted with solemn farew^ells by unfortunate 
ones disappearing rapidly from view, bound on a ter- 
restrial voyage to China by the air, or rather earth, 
line. One poor wretch, stepping into a deceitful pud- 
dle, descended to his waist ; then, unable to proceed 
either up or down, concluded to remain where he was, 
for want of a better place, until having furnished 
much sport to the crowd, two of his comrades, taking- 
pity on his helpless condition, seized him by the 
-shoulders, and landed him once more on terra fir ma. 

Every mile or two, streams, intended for peaceful, 
babbling brooks, but which, swollen by the rains, had 
became raging torrents and angry rivers on a small 
scale, crossed the road. Some we forded, others we 
waded for lack of better means of transit. Occasion- 
ally rail bridges spanned the stream at the side of the 
road, tempting the unwary one, and some unlucky 
one would now and then disappear from them into 
the roaring flood, and emerge looking quite moist and 
crestfallen, with his gun in excellent order for use. 
Little streaks of clay cropped up here and there along 
the road, holding the feet as in a vice, and he was 



64 A TRIP TO TRENTON. 

lucky who retained his shoes in the struggle. Still, 
on rushed the van, as if life itself was at stake, if camp 
were not reached at an early hour; so, resigning 
ourselves to our fate, we tumbled along with the rest. 
The column must have resembled in appearance the 
army in the stampede of Bull Run. Every man run- 
ning a race with his neighbor, all discipline thrown 
to the winds, and the one who reached camp first, 
the best fellow. 

Although, without exception, the hardest day in all 
our campaign, we never had a merrier one. There 
were more jokes in that afternoon than in an ordinary 
month ; and it may be set down as an axiom, that, 
in the army, the harder the work, and the more dis- 
mal the circumstances, the better humor the men will 
be in. But all misery has an end, and so did ours; 
for, about five o'clock that Saturday afternoon, we 
found ourselves safe and sound in the old barracks, 
without having fired a gun or lost a man. So ended 
our second expedition, we having on this last day 
marched, in a little more than seven hours, including 
all halts, twenty-one miles, on the muddiest road it 
has ever been our lot to see, or hope to see, disfigure 
the face of the earth. 

In addition to the letters from home, pleasing rumors 
greeted us on our return, to the effect, that, for a time 
at least, we were to know no more expeditions, but 
were soon to take up our quarters in Newbern as pro- 
vost guard. After time to rest and discuss this good 
news in its every possible feature, we were rewarded 
for past labors by the reading of the order for the 
45th Mass., Colonel Codman commanding, to relieve 
the 17th Mass., at Newbern, on the 25th instant. 



A TRIP TO TRENTON. 65 

The intervening time was spent in preparations for 
departure, collecting our numerous movables, taking 
down shelves, hiring donkey -carts, etc., and on the 
24th we retired to our bunks in old Camp Amory 
for the last time, the anticipation of the morrow 
engrossing every thought, and rendering sleep of lit- 
tle moment. 




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CHAPTER VIII. 

LIFE IN NEWBERN. 

T an early hour on the long-expected day, the 
detail for guard left the camp, and soon after 
breakfast, the rest of the regiment started, in 
the best possible spirits, for its new quarters, making 
quite a triumphal entry into the captured city, with 
band playing and colors flying. Crossing the railroad 
bridge, we marched directly to Broad street, the 
parade-ground of all troops occupying the city. There 
the out-going regiment, the 17th Mass., were drawn 
up in line to welcome the new-comers; and after the 
customary manoeuvres required by military etiquette, 
the command of the city was tendered to Colonel 
Codman, and the companies ordered to their respec- 
tive quarters. 

The lines of Company A had ever fallen in pleasant 
places, and our good luck did not desert us, for we 
found ourselves in possession of the nicest of the 
houses assigned to the regiment ; in fact, one of the 
prettiest places in the town. It was a two-storied, 
wooden building, on Pollock street, the principal 
street of Newbern, lighted with gas, but of course 
wholly destitute of furniture. It had flower-gardens 
in front and on both sides, while in the rear were one 



68 LIFE IN NEWBERN. 

or two acres of land covered with various kinds of 
fruit -trees, several fig-trees among the number. There 
was also a cook-house, barn, and out -buildings, all, 
except the barn, fitted up with bunks for the accom- 
modation of those who could not obtain a corner in 
the main buildino-. 

All the rooms in the house, excepting those reserved 
for the officers, were lined with bunks, the parlor alone 
having seventeen occupants. The name of " Pierce" 
still adorned the front door, and we would embrace this 
opportunity to tender to the individual rejoicing in the 
name of " Pierce," our most sincere thanks for the 
noble manner in which he retired to the country and 
generously yielded up his house and grounds, rent 
free, to the use of the Yankee soldiery. 

Company K occupied the next house, and opposite 
them were the quarters of Company D, while across 
the street was the house occupied by General Hill, 
the rebel commander, for his headquarters when in 
the city. Just below, on the next corner, was the 
building employed by the provost marshal, and the 
headquarters of the provost guard. The companies 
were somewhat scattered, for the greater security of 
the city. 

The dut}^ of the provost guard was somewhat as 
follows. The city was divided into three districts ; the 
first district was the south-eastern part of the town, 
and embraced the business quarter, having its head- 
quarters at the provost marshal's. Here was the 
guard -house, where all persons arrested were kept till 
examination was made and sentence passed over them, 
— like the station-house of the police. The second 
district comprised the northern portion of the town, 



LIFE IX NKWr.ERX. 69 

having its headquarters in the old office of the Atlantic 
and North Carolina Railroad. This was situated next 
the depot, and the desk and safe of the company 
remained in their old places. General Foster's head- 
quarters, and the house occupied by his family, were 
in this district, and under the especial care of the 
guard. The third district covered the remainder of 
the town, the south-western portion, and was the 
least important of the three. 

The daily detail for guard was as follows : One cap- 
tain, three lieutenants, three sergeants, ten corporals 
and one hundred and ninety-seven privates. The 
absence of two companies, G and I, and the large 
number of men on detached service, rendered the duty 
of the privates quite arduous, as the large detail neces- 
sitated their going on guard every other day, with an 
occasional interval of two days ; but the officers, non- 
commissioned as well as commissioned, had a very 

easy time of it. 

Guard-mounting took place on Broad street, every 
morning at eight o'clock, and was quite an attraction 
for idlers, the band always taking part. After the cus- 
tomary manoeuvres, each lieutenant marched his guard 
to the district assigned him, so that it was nearly ten 
o'clock by the time the old guard was relieved and 
returned to quarters. The men at the head of the 
line were assigned to the f^rst district, and as that was 
the most popular of the three, there was a regular 
race every morning for the first place, and some- 
times an enterprising company would be on hand half 
an hour before the required time. But, after a while, 
the companies alternated in their position in the line, 
and so all competition was at an end. 



70 



l.IFK IN XKWHKRX. 



The guard was divided into three reHefs ; the first 
being on duty from nine to one, both morning and 
night ; the second from one to five, and the third from 
five to nine. The first reHef was throusfh with its 
labor at one o'clock a. m., while the third had the 
whole night from nine to five to sleep, and the day 
to loaf, so the choice between these two was about 
equally divided, but the second relief, being a sort of 
nondescript, was scouted by all. 

There were two detached stations, both under com- 
mand of a corporal, which were very much liked by 
the men. The first was at the railroad bridge, which, 
as the main entrance to the city, for all on foot or 
horseback, was an important point. More than one 
poor corporal lost his stripes when at this post, for 
some slight dereliction of duty. There were sentry- 
boxes on the bridge for stormy weather, and a cosy 
little guard- room with a nice bed of shavings, 
much more comfortable than the hard boards in the 
other guard -rooms. No one was allowed to pass 
over the bridge in either direction without a permit, 
and special instructions were issued against allowing 
any vehicle to cross without an order from department 
headquarters. 

The other station was at the Pollock Street 
Jail, — jail in name, but nothing but a large wooden 
dwelling-house. It was occupied by rebel prison- 
ers, disloyal citizens, ;ind occasionally by a United 
States officer under arrest. The jailer was a great 
burly corporal of the 23d Massachusetts, who was 
afterwards promoted to a lieutenancy in the North 
Carolina native res^iment. The ouns of the sentries 
here were alwavs loaded, and the orders were to shoot 



J.ii-K i.\ m;\vi;i;kx. yj 

on the slightest attempt to escape, — a \-en- necessary 
precaution, where but two men kept guard o\er a liouse 
having at times as many as sixty prisoners. Their 
fare was the same as that furnished to our men, 
and often better. The prisoners brought in were for 
the most part a wretched-looking set of men ; dirty 
to filthiness, ragged, ignorant and stupid, many of 
them the clay -eaters of North Carolina. There was 
a rebel surgeon confined there for a lone time, an 
intelligent, educated man from New Orleans, with 
whom we had many a talk on the topics of the day, 
upon which he kept himself well informed. 

There was a great choice in the sentry-stations 
over the city, and the men very quickly became 
acquainted with their various excellences and respec- 
tive merits. Some were under cover, others were not 
needed at night ; at this one a breakfast was furnished 
by a kind neighbor, at another, the guard was sure of 
some dinner, while some were wholly undesirable, 
being on some bleak, unprotected corner, exposed to 
wind and rain. 

, Guard duty had sufficient variety to relieve it 
from monotony, and while many a ludicrous scene 
happened, occasionally, occurrences not wholly devoid 
of danger, served to keep us alive; Some one would 
report, a disturbance, and ask for a guard to restore 
peace ; whereupon volunteers would be called for, 
and two or three start off, ready for anything that 
might turn up. Some drunken soldier has, perhaps, 
made himself at home in a house, to the obvious dis- 
comfort of the inmates, and refuses to be dislodged ; 
but the uoiv look of the bavonet soon brinos him to 
terms, and he is marched off to the guard -house, and 



72 LIFE IN NEWBERN. 



allowed an opportunity to consider his evil ways, 
in solitary confinement. Occasionally, one with 
enough liquor to make him ugly, refuses to show his 
pass, and even attempts to seize the gun of the guard, 
when most unexpectedly, he receives the butt of the 
musket in his face, and, beginning to realize that 
"discretion is the better part of valor," submits, and 
is led off, a soberer and wiser man. 

When some of the old New York and Pennsyl- 
vania regiments w^ere encamped near the town, their 
men were very apt to make trouble during their visits 
to Newbern, and it often ended in their passing the 
ni^dit at the oruard- house. One afternoon, two six-foot 
Irishmen came over the bridge, and on entering the 
town, refused to show their passes. Both had guns 
and bayonets, and threatened to kill any one who should 
attempt to arrest them. It was not until aid arrived 
from the guard-house, and they had been stretched out 
with the butt of a pistol, that they quieted down and 
consented to go and be locked up. Once we were 
stopped in the street by a native, and asked to come 
and arrest a drunken fellow, who had threatened to^ 
stab his wife, the niece of my informant. Although 
unaccustomed to interfere in family troubles, such 
a summons could not be neglected. The man- was a 
citizen of Newbern, and on our arrival was asleep 
on a sofa, while the poor wife was weeping in the 
cook-house. Arousing him, we made known our 
errand; and the accusations and tears of the wife, 
tooether with the maudlin stupidity of the man, were 
pitiful to witness. It is to be hoped that three day's 
solitary confinement, on bread and water, brought him 
to a realizing sense of his conjugal duties. 



LIFE I\ MEWIJKRX. 



11 



One da)', a person just arrived from Fortress Mon- 
roe, made complaint at the provost marshal's, of the 
theft of some of his baggage by one of the hands 
employed on the steamer. A guard was immediately 
sent to the steamer to arrest the criminal, and a por- 
tion of the stolen oroods was found amono- the effects 

o o 

of one of the firemen, but the man himself was miss- 
ing. Feeling convinced however, that the fellow was 
concealed somewhere on the vessel, they commenced 
a search, high and low, for the guilty one, and just as 
they were about to give up in despair, one of the 
guard chanced to look under one of the boilers, and 
there discovered the culprit, squeezed in almost out of 
sight. On being requested to come forth, he refused 
iiatly, and being out of reach he could not be dragged 
out. A loaded pistol was produced, and aimed at 
his head, when some one suggested the hose, and a 
stream of dirty water was quickly brought to bear on 
the hapless victim. In vain did he squirm and writhe ; 
he had to succumb, and finally crawled out from his 
hiding-place more dead than alive, and was carried in 
triumph to the guard -house to answer for his sins. 

We were b}- no means idle on the days off guard. 
Four times a week, when the weather permitted, — and 
the days were rare when it did not permit, — we were 
indulged in the delights of brigade drill. Coming off 
guard at ten o'clock, the order would sound through 
the yard, immediately after dinner, which was earlier 
on those days, " Fall in for brigade drill, blouses and 
caps ! " and at noon we formed regimental line on 
Broad street, and from there marched along two miles 
over the railroad bridge, to the plain near our old bar- 
racks on the Trent. Here we were joined by the 1 7th, 



10 



74 LIFE IN NEWBERN, 

43cl and 51st Mass., and manoeuvred by Colonel 
Amory for two or three hours. '* Echelon by bat- 
talion at forty paces," "form line of battle on third 
battalion, right in front," etc., became as familiar as 
household words, and all of us felt competent to han- 
dle a brigade. Still it was always a happy moment 
when we saw our commander sheathe his long sabre, 
and no order was obeyed with such celerity and pre- 
cision, as the one which invariably followed this action, 
"march off your battalions." The men were always 
in the best of spirits on the march back to town, and 
many a song and joke beguiled the weary way. 

Twice a week, also, we had battalion drill, some- 
times in the streets, and occasionally in one of the 
fields on the outskirts of the town. As we were very 
apt to have spectators during our street drills, the 
colonel was especially vexed at any blunders commit- 
ted by the officers, and woe betide the unfortunate 
one who incurred his censure on those days, for he 
spoke his mind on the spot, to the great delight of the 
file, and the discomfiture of the rank. 

But all this drill was not thrown away, and for accu- 
racy and quickness of movements, we yielded the 
palm to no regiment in the department. The great 
feature of the day, however, was the dress -parade. 
Every afternoon, a little before five o'clock, there was 
a general struggle for blacking and brushes, "dress 
coats and hats " being the countersign for the hour. 
Nightly, with our white gloves and good clothes, we 
formed company in the back yard, where we had a 
preliminary drill in the manual, to get our hand in for 
the show performance. Then off we marched to the 
parade-ground on the next street, occasionally going 



LIFE IN NEWBERN. 75 

through with a battalion drill, on our own account, 
while on the way to our place in line. 

The regiment stretches along the north side of the 
street and the colonel takes his station on the opposite 
sidewalk, which is regularly occupied by a long row of 
lookers-on. Here, as elsewhere, our company was in 
good luck, having the centre of the line, and as the 
best drilling was to be seen there, it was accordingly 
directly opposite the fair faces, who deigned to grace 
our parade with their presence. Many thanks, fair 
ladies, for the innocent pleasure your bright faces 
afforded us poor fellows, many of whom, for eight 
weary months, did not so much as speak to a lady. 
Nor was your presence simply a pleasure but a benefit 
to the regiment ; for what man could look aught but 
neat and tidy with such eyes to criticise.'^ who would 
not excel in drill to win applause from such lips.? 

When, occasionally, the familiar face of some Bos- 
ton gentleman appeared in the crowd, it was pleasant 
to see the start of amazement with which he greeted 
the first strains of music as the band beat down the 
line. Could these be the same men who labored so 
hard at Readville to produce some semblance to 
music? The band had indeed improved wonderfully, 
and it was now a positive pleasure to hear them play. 
Guard -mounting and dress -parade, from being a 
decided bore, had come to be really enjoyable. Noth- 
ing is more enlivening and inspiriting than good mar- 
tial music; it relieves the monotony of all military 
parades, and refreshes the weary both in body and 
soul. When one is exhausted with marching, and to 
dracr one lea: after the other is a sore task, let the band 
strike up, and the inspiring sounds infuse new life mto 



76 LIFE IN NEWBERN. 

the tired frame; it makes the way look short and easy, 
which, but the moment before, had seemed intermin- 
able. Nor were the duties of the band confined to 
the department of music; for on the field of battle 
they did excellent work as members of the ambulance 
corps, and all who had need of their assistance will 
remember with unceasino^ orratitude their kind service 
and tender care. 



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CHAPTER IX. 

THE GRAND REVIEW. 

IT was our good fortune during our stay in New- 
bern, to participate in a grand review of the 
1 8th Army Corps by our commander, General 
Foster. We had due notice, and were gotten up in a 
state of blackness and brightness well nigh bordering 
on perfection. Blackness having reference to the 
state of our boots and equipments, brightness to 
our guns and brasses. The cleansing and polishing 
and furbishing one does in the army is beyond belief, 
for by the time you have come to the end of the long 
list of articles which require touching up, the first 
strap or brass, as the case may be, has become dull, 
and you begin again; — but to return to the review. 

The day was all that could be desired, bright and 
beautiful, and as the regiment formed line on the 
parade-ground, looking so neat and nice, with colors 
flying, and the band outdoing itself in the excitement 
of the day, we felt proud of our State and the service 
which enlisted such men in its ranks. 

The review was on the south side of the Trent, the 
country there affording splendid facilities for military 
manoeuvres on a large scale, as it presented an unbro- 
ken stretch of nearlv two miles in each direction. We 
were well acquainted with the spot, having trodden 



78 THE GRAND REVIEW. 

almost every foot of land thereabouts in our numer- 
ous brigade drills, and were first on the ground that 
day, as befitted our position in line, the Forty-fifth 
ranking as ist Battalion, ist Brigade, ist Division, 
1 8th Army Corps. 

It was a beautiful sioht to watch the Ions: line of 
troops which filed over the bridge, their bayonets 
flashing in the sunlight, as regiment after regiment 
came up and took its place in line. The line was 
formed in brigades, four regiments deep, in the order 
of the brigades, our brigade holding the right, the 
artillery and cavalry occupying the extreme left. 

The thunder of the artillery announced the arrival 
of our gallant commander, Major- General Foster, and 
soon he appeared at our front, finely mounted, and 
attended by his full staff. Drums are ruffled and arms 
presented, while the band plays " Mail to the Chief," 
as he dashes along in his inspection of each regiment, 
the music continuing while he is passing through the 
brigade, then the next band takes up the strain. 

After a long rest and a lunch by all who had been 
prudent enough to bring a supply of hard -tack in 
their pockets, our turn came for an active part in the 
proceedings of the day. General Foster had taken 
his station on a slight eminence, and sat facing the 
centre of the line, which, brigade deep, extended for 
full a mile. Surrounded by his staff, he was the object 
of attraction of the crowd of spectators who thronged 
about him, from Mrs. Foster and her brilliant staff 
of ladies, down to the most ragged contraband in all 
that motley assembly. 

As we wheeled by platoons and marched in review, 
the sight which greeted us was one long to be remem- 



THE GRAND REVIEW. 79 

bered for its grandeur and beauty. Line upon line of 
unbroken ranks stretched on as far as the eye could 
reach. Over each regiment waved our beautiful flag, 
its colors o-lowinor with unwonted richness in the warm 
winter's sun, the bayonets throwing back flashes of 
light, and the artillery and cavalry relieving the scene 
from all monotony, while the Neuse, sparkling in the 
sunlight, and its distant bank covered with the forest 
evergreen, formed a perfect background for this gor- 
geous picture. Then there was the long row of spec- 
tators, some, seated in vehicles of all sorts and descrip- 
tions, others, mounted on animals ranging from the 
finest charger to the scrubbiest donkey, while on foot 
v/as a crowd composed of every age, sex and color. 
In their midst sat our commander, patiently await- 
ing our approach. 

As we drew near, the band filed off to the left, 
and took its position directly opposite the general, 
where it continued playing till our brigade had all 
passed, when it was relieved by the next band, and 
once more took its place in line. As each platoon 
passed, the general saluted, while he honored the 
colors by removing his hat, the band also giving the 
customary salute. Battalion after battalion, battery 
after battery, troop after troop, they came, till the first 
battalion, making the complete circuit, came upon the 
rear of the last troop, thus forming an unbroken circle. 
As each regiment reached the place of starting, it 
halted until the long, glittering array was once more 
in position, then again the artillery thundered forth 
the salute, and the grand review was over. 

Not long after this we were gladdened by the arri- 
val of a party of ladies and gentlemen, friends of the 



So THE GRAND REVIEW. 

regiment, and those amongst us who were not person- 
ally acquainted with any of the visitors, were, not- 
withstanding, pleased to see the familiar faces, and 
witness the joy of those who were made happy in 
their coming. We were favored on the next Sunday 
by a sermon from Dr. Lothrop, of Boston, who was 
one of the party, and it seemed strange indeed to 
listen to him there, preaching in a southern pulpit to 
an audience of soldiers. The Presbyterian church 
was the one occupied by us, and our chaplain held 
service there every Sunday afternoon, the reo-iment 
and visitors filling the body of the house. It was 
a plain, old-fashioned building, with a high pulpit and 
small oro-an. 

The Episcopal church was open in the morning, 
Major Sturgis, in the absence of the rector, reading 
the service and a sermon. The singing by a quar- 
tette of male voices, two from our regiment, and two 
on detailed service in the city, would have shamed 
most northern choirs. The church was built of stone, 
and was very prettily situated on Pollock street, stand- 
ing back from the street, in an old burying-ground 
filled with elms and willows and moss -covered tomb- 
stones. The interior of the building was finished in 
very good taste, and there was a fair organ, which we 
often went up into the organ-loft to listen to, as one 
of the musicians of our company had access to the 
buildino-. A Sunday school was also started durinof 
our stay in town, and was very successful, increasing 
rapidly in size and infiuence. 

But the most remarkable service it was our lot ever 
to witness, was one held in the contraband Methodist 
church. A small party of us, having obtained passes 



THE GRAND REVIEW. 8 1 

started one Sunday for the church in the Second Dis- 
trict, and on enterino- the build ino-, found the o-alleries 
were reserved for visitors and ah-eady well filled with 
soldiers, drawn there, like ourselves, by curiosity. The 
body of the house was crowded with the conoreo-ation 
of worshippers, the women occupying one side of the 
church, the men the other. Every shade of color 
from that of Erebus, god of night, to fair- haired 
Aurora, child of the morning, was there represented, 
while the bright colors which adorned the female por- 
tion of the house, added to the brilliancy of the scene. 

The pulpit was unoccupied, but the leader of the 
meeting, an intelligent looking man, nearly white, 
and ^^•ith, what was remarkable, sandy hair, sat in 
a chair in front of the pulpit. He opened the service 
with singing, reading a line from the h^-mn, which 
was then sung by the congregation; then reading the 
second line, and so on. Having heard so much of 
the melodv of the neo-ro, and the beautiful sino-ine 
to be heard on the plantations, our expectations were 
highly raised, but, alas ! no sooner had the first note 
reached our ears, than our hopes were dashed to the 
ground. Imagine some old psalm tune, screamed 
forth, line by line, from the cracked throats of the old, 
and by the shrill voices of the young, all singing the 
air, each voice pitched on a different kev, and some 
idea of their style of music may be formed. 

Next came a prayer, in which the voice of the 
leader was for the most part drowned in the ^•igorous 
groans of the congregation, except when it rose to a 
shout and was heard above the din around him. The 
audience having warmed to the subject, he began to 
exhort them to repentance. jNIeantime, two or three 



II 



82 THE GRAND REVIEW. 

women throwing their bonnets and shawls on the pul- 
pit stairs, evidently preparing for work, began with as 
many men, pillars of the church, to move about among 
the contyreo-ation, addressino- a word here and there 
to enforce the preacher's remarks. 

Several soon began to feel the arrow of conviction, 
and were led up in front of the pulpit, where the girls 
were stripped of shawls and bonnets, which were 
thrown in a heap on the stairs. The cause of this 
strange proceeding soon became apparent, for the 
poor creatures, excited and wrought into a state of 
frenzy by the words of the speakers, began to scream 
and shriek, struggling with those who were exhorting 
them, shouting, "Save me now," at the top of their 
lungs, until they fairly went into convulsions. 

One poor girl, not more than sixteen or seventeen 
years old, struggled and screamed for more than an 
hour in a most frightful manner, until at length she 
sank on the floor utterly exhausted by her violence. 
It was the same on the men's side, though they were 
less violent in their emotions, but when the excitement 
was at its height, it seemed as though Bedlam itself 
was let loose. The scene was at once ludicrous and 
saddening. It was sad to think these poor creatures 
could hope to win salvation in such a manner, yet at 
the same time, the absurdity and comicality of the 
whole affair was irresistible, and showed a phase of 
negro character both strange and amusing. 

As the season advanced, the weather became most 
deliohtful. The buds be^an to swell and the flowers 
to peep up here and there, until we soon found our- 
selves living in a great garden. Almost every house 
had some land about it, and our own quarters were 



THE GRAND REVIEW. 83 

surrounded by rose trees, violets and other plants too 
numerous to mention. The air teemed with fracrrance 

O 

from the blossoms of the apple, peach and pear trees 
which o-rew back of the house; little Q-reen fio^s beo'an 
to make their appearance, and the elms which filled 
the streets once more donned their summer covering, 
while our ears were delighted with the song of the 
mockino'-birds and most of our northern sono-sters. 

Every letter sent nc rthwards was freighted with a 
little offering of flower.^, whose sweetness still lingered 
about the paper even a ter their freshness had passed 
away, and gave to friends at home some token of 
that summer we were enjoying, but which to them 
was still far distant. Pitching quoits, or rather horse- 
shoes, was the great amusement of the day, and 
engrossed the leisure hours alike of officers and men. 
Base ball also had its share of attention, and a small 
set of gymnastic apparatus was set up in the yard. 
Some of us, occasionally, passed a morning hour in 
teaching ; for shortly after the arrival of the chaplain s 
wife, a day school was opened under her auspices for 
the contrabands. It was more especially intended for 
children, but was open to all of a more advanced age^ 
who were anxious to learn. 

The school was held daily for an hour in the 
colored church on Hancock street, the teachers being 
for the most part, men of our regiment, assisted by 
two or three ladies, who interested themselves in the 
work. The scholars were, as a rule, quite bright and 
very eager to learn, and seemed much delighted 
with their primers and spelling-books. Their pro- 
gress in reading was quite rapid, their eagerness to 
acquire the knowledge from which they had been 



84 THE GRAND REVIEW. 

hitherto barred, overcoming all obstacles. The young 
ones were sometimes seen going over their lessons 
at home for the edification of the older ones, who 
were unable to attend the school, thus bringing a 
double blessinor on the labors of the teacher. After 

O 

we left Newbern and once more w^nt into camp, the 
chaplain opened a school there for the benefit of the 
contraband settlement near by, which was kept up till 
our departure, and was not without good results. 

The receipt of frequent mails and occasional boxes 
from home, served as pleasant little episodes, oases in 
the desert of our life of drill and guard. The joy 
which beamed on the countenances of those who read 
their names in staring letters on the boxes found piled 
up in the yard, on returning from drill, was amusing 
to behold, and showed that the appetite for home 
cookery was not wholly destroyed by long neglect. 

The mail steamers made knowii their approach by 
blowing three whistles when some distance down the 
river, and, no sooner was the signal heard, than cries 
of "Dudley Buck!" "Ellen Terry!" "Mail! Mail!" 
would resound through the quarters, and some of the 
more enterprising ones would travel down to the 
wharf to count the number of mail bags, for our 
expectations were gauged by the number of bags. 
After two or three hours of impatient waiting, the 
orderly would go over to the regimental post-office, 
which was under the charge of the chaplain, and 
quickly return loaded down with the precious freight. 

Then the answers must be written immediately, for 
the mail boats made but little stay, and the notice on 
the post-office announcing the hour of mail closing, 
is frequently consulted, for it had a way of changing 



THE GRAND REVIEW. 85 

from hour to hour, which was apt to be embarrassing. 
Permission to keep the lights burning after taps is 
obtained, and the table in those rooms that boast such 
a luxury, is surrounded by busy writers. The more 
prudent ones, who have already mailed their letters, 
turn into their bunks in the vain hope of profiting 
by their forethought by getting an extra amount of 
sleep, but the light and noise prove too much for 
them, and they amuse and revenge themselves by 
anno3ang and worrying the writers. The result is, 
that a riot, in a small way, is pretty sure to follow, 
which ends in the appearance of the captain, and the 
extinction of the lights, when the prudent ones once 
more turn in, chuckling over their triumph. Their 
rejoicing, however, is ill-timed, for the others, baffled 
in their attempts to write, determine that no one shall 
sleep till they see fit, and by noise and talk keep their 
poor victims on the rack, till, wearied out at last, 
silence at last reigns over the scene of confusion, and 
sweet sleep and dreams of home descend. 




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CHAPTER X. 

THE FOURTEENTH OF MARCH. 

IT was General Foster's intention to celebrate the 
anniversary of the battle of Newbern, and the 
capture of the town, by a parade of the troops 
in and about the city, and orders to that effect had 
been issued to the different commanders. But a slight 
circumstance occurred on the day previous to the 
anniversary, which caused an entire change in the 
programme. 

We had often heard from prisoners the boast that 
Newbern :-hould not remain in our possession for 
more than a year, and, sure enough, on the 1 3th, the 
pickets were driven in, and, instead of a parade, there 
seemed to be every prospect of a fight. All were 
actively engaged in preparation for whatever the mor- 
row might "bring forth. Aides and orderlies were gal- 
loping through the streets, and ammunition wagons 
carrying supplies to the various forts, while the natives 
hung about the corners with ill-suppressed looks of 
exuhation on their yellow faces, eagerly listening to 
the scraps of news which the passing soldiers let fall. 
Cartridges were given out, and the guns of the guard, 
contrary to custom, were loaded, and strict orders 
oiven to arrest any who breathed even the faintest 
suspicion of treason. 



88 THE FOURTEENTH OF MARCH. 

After a restless night, we were aroused early on the 
morning of the 14th by the booming of cannon and 
bursting of shells, and quickly started out to learn the 
immediate condition of affairs. The eastern bank of 
the Neuse, for some miles above and below the town, 
is covered with an impenetrable swamp. There is, 
however, one approach by a road from Little Wash- 
ington, w^iich strikes the river about a mile above the 
upper end of the town, and, in old times, a ferry-boat 
plied the river at this point. This ferry had fallen 
into disuse-, as our communications with Washington 
were wholly by water, but the importance of securing 
this approach, and preventing any surprise in that 
direction, had not been overlooked, and, for some time 
past, there had been a picket- station across the river. 
This was now occupied by the 92d New York, who 
had been busily engaged in throwing up a strong- 
earthwork, commanding the road, but as yet no guns 
had been mounted. 

We soon discovered that this camp was the point 
of attack, and nothing but the cowardice of the enemy, 
and the bravery of the 92d, saved the latter from cap- 
ture or destruction. At an early hour, their pickets 
had been driven in, and soon after daybreak the 
enemy appeared, about an eighth of a mile from the 
earthwork, with a force of some five thousand infantry 
and cavalry, and sixteen pieces of artiller}'. Imagine 
the situation; between three and four hundred men 
armed only with muskets, confronted by a force of 
more than ten to one. Protected, it is true, by earth- 
works, but without a gun mounted, while behind them 
stretched a mile and a half of water, separating them 
from friends and safety; and about a mile down the 



THE FOURTEENTH OF MARCH. ^g 

river, half hidden in the morning mist, lay the gtm- 
boat " Hunchback," unconscious of the threatened 
dano-er. 

The rebel general sends a summons to surrender, 
which is met some distance from the works to prevent 
too close an inspection of their weakness, and is 
answered by the brave commander with an " If you 
want the place, you must come and take it." No 
sooner is this reply received than the ball is opened. 
But the first boom of the cannon is a siornal of alarm 
to friendly ears across the river; it startles the 
sleepers on the gun -boat and arouses the people in 
the city. 

Thick and fast the storm of shot and shell pours in 
upon the devoted little garrison. Tents are riddled, 
shanties knocked in pieces, but the men themselves, 
lying close behind their entrenchments are, as yet, 
unharmed. Can they hold out till rescue comes, or 
will the enemy carry the works b}^ storm? is the anx- 
ious thought of every heart, as with straining eyes 
they watch the signs of life now discernable on the 
gun -boat, on which their hopes depend. At last the 
smoke curls up from the tall pipe and the old " Hunch- 
back" moves slowly to the rescue. Like the passing 
vessel, which has seen the signal of the shipwrecked 
mariner and is gradually lessening the distance be- 
tween him and a watery grave, so the gun -boat, 
steaming up the river, comes between the little garri- 
son and captivity in a southern prison. As she neared 
the scene of action and her hundred pounder opened 
upon the enemy, their hopes of success were gone 
forever. 

Mounted in the rioo^ino- of a schooner Iviu"- at the 

12 



90 



THE FOURTEENTH OF MARCH. 



provost -marshal's wharf, glass in hand, we watched 
the combatants. Our flag floated proudly over the 
works, and the smoke of the rebel guns was quickly 
followed by the explosion of the shells, now over the 
camp, now in the river, one or two even striking 
upon our side of the Neuse. A revenue schooner, 
also, was beating up the river, anxious to join in the 
fight, but the hundred pounder of the ''Hunchback" 
proved too much for the visitors. With one gun dis- 
mounted by a shot from the gun -boat, and a loss of 
several killed and wounded, they retired discomfited 
into the woods, whence they sent an occasional shot 
at the prize which had been so unceremoniously 
snatched from their very grasp. The revenue vessel, 
of lighter draft than the gun- boat, ran in close to shore 
and anchored off the brave garrison, and all danger in 
that quarter was at an end. 

Simultaneous attacks were also made on the out- 
posts at Deep Gully and Batchelder's Creek, but were 
attended with no better success ; so, bafHed at all 
points, the foe gave up the attempt and retired in 
the direction of Kinston and Little Washington. 
In honor of our victory, and out of compliment to the 
enemy. General Foster had the Stars and Stripes 
hoisted to the very summit of the Episcopal steeple, 
the highest point in the city, where, visible for miles 
in every direction, they floated in proud defiance over 
the place in which one year before had drooped the 
tricolor of treason and rebellion. 

The hope and exultation so visible that morning in 
the faces of the traitorous inhabitants, gradually paled 
into a yellower despair than ever, and the stores of 
provisions prepared by them in anticipation of the 



THE FOURTEENTH OF MARCH. 91 

speedy coming of their friends, ferreted from their 
conceahnent by the vigilance of the detectives, met 
with an untimely end. The town soon recovered 
from the excitement caused by this near approach of 
the enemy, and we all enjoyed the occurrences of the 
day as a pleasant variety in our rather monotonous 
life. 

But, while we were enjoying a life of comparative 
comfort in Newbern, with unlimited credit at the sut- 
ler's, relying on the arrival of the paymaster some 
time in the future, other regiments in the department 
were less fortunate. The sieQ,e of Little Washington 
by the rebels began, and we listened daily to the 
distant booming of cannon. But though regiment 
after regiment was sent off, until only three or four 
were left about the city, and the rest of our brigade 
participated in General Spinola's fruitless attempt to 
march overland to Washington, raise the siege, and 
rescue General Foster from his uncomfortable, not to 
say dangerous, situation, our regiment continued in 
its old routine of guard duty, having besides special 
charge of the city defences in the absence of the other 
troops. 

At last, on the night of April i6, General Foster 
ran the blockade in the little steamer " Escort," not 
without great danger to himself and the crew, for they 
passed through a very hot fire, and the steamer was 
struck in several places. The pilot was killed, and 
one shot went through the coppers in the cook's 
galley, taking off an arm of the cook in its passage ; 
another passed through the general's state-room, for- 
tunately unoccupied at the time. There was, of 
course, great risk incurred in running by the enemy's 



92 



THE FOURTEENTH OF MARCH. 



batteries, for any injury to the machinery would have 
insured capture or destruction, but the urgent need 
for General Foster's presence in Newbern caused all 
personal danger to be regarded as nothing in the ser- 
vice of the country. No time was lost upon his arri- 
val, and that very day troops were on the way, some 
bv land, others by water, to the relief of the belea- 
guered town, and before a week passed, the siege was 
raised and the enemy had disappeared. 

Durine the troubles above mentioned, a chancre was 
made in our svstem of o-uard dutv, and instead of hav- 
ing sentry posts scattered about the town, squads of 
men patrolled the streets four hours at a time. This 
chanoe was a orreat relief to the re2;iment, for thereby 
the number of men required for daily duty was reduced 
nearly two -thirds, and instead of going on guard every 
other day as before, the turns now came but once 
in four or five days. We got to know the town pretty 
well in this way, for the patrol visited every street, 
lane and alley in its wanderings by night as well as 
day, and many curious scenes and places met our eyes, 
which in ordinary life would never have been visible. 

But pleasant things must have an end. Rumors 
became prevalent through the regiment that we were 
soon to be relieved, and the honorable duty of pro- 
vost guard to be assigned to the 44th Mass., as a 
reward for their services at Little Washington. The 
following order, read on dress -parade, confirmed 
our fears : 



THE FOURTEENTH OF MARCH. 



93 



Headquarters Department ok North Carolina, 
i8th Army Corps, 

Newbern, April 23, 1S63. 

Special Order No. 117, No. 5. 

In accordance with the custom of the Department, the regiment 
now doing provost duty will be relieved. The commanding gen- 
eral, on changing the guard of the town, desires to convey to 
Colonel Codman, and through him, to his officers and men, his 
high appreciation of the manner in which the duties of the guard 
have been performed. 

He has noticed with great pleasure the drill, discipline and 
general efficiency of the regiment. The 44th Regiment, M. V. M., 
will relieve the 45th on Saturday, the 25th inst., at 9.00 a. m. 

By command of Major- General Foster. 

[Signed] L. HOFFMAN, A. A. G. 

A very pleasant testimonial of the g'ood feeling 
which prevailed between the inhabitants of the town 
and the regiment, was also received by the colonel, 
which read as follows : 

Newbern, N. C., April 25. 1863. 

Colonel C. R. Codman, Officers and Men of the 45TH 
M. V. M. 

Gentlei7ien: — Having learned with regret that your regiment is 
about to retire from the duty of guarding the city, I beg leave on 
behalf of all loyal citizens, myself, my family, and other families 
here, to render you our sincere thanks for the efficiency and cour- 
tesy with which you have discharged your duties. 

It has seldom been our lot to see a body of soldiers so uniformly 
civil and gentlemanly in their behavior, temperate and orderly in 
their habits, comparatively free from the prevailing vice of profan- 
ity, and so prompt in restraining those who, by any violence, would 
attempt to disturb our streets. 

Accept, gentlemen, our thanks for past kindness, and wishes 
for your future welfare. 

W. H. DOHERTY, A. M., 

Principal of Ncwhcnt Academy. 



94 THE FOURTEENTH OF MARCH. 

The last two or three clays of our sojourn in the 
town, several ludicrous scenes occurred at the provost- 
marshal's, in consequence of the revival of an old 
order in respect to the uniform of the soldiers. It 
had become the general custom of detailed men in 
the various departments, to wear different articles of 
an ofificer's uniform, everything in fact but shoulder 
straps, rendering it impossible for the guard to 
distinguish between officers and privates. An order 
was therefore issued to the guard to deprive such 
men of their superfluous ornaments, and in case they 
refused to give them up, to conduct them to the guard- 
house. So, every little while, some indignant fellow 
would appear at the guard -house, escorted by a sen- 
try, and demand the meaning of such shameful treat- 
ment. 

The question was commonly answered by the appro- 
priation of the forbidden finery by the ofificer in com- 
mand, after allowing the owner to peruse the order of 
the provost-marshal, when he would retire from the 
scene somewhat crestfallen. Two examples afforded 
us especial mirth, the one a commissary sergeant, the 
other, hospital steward of a certain Massachusetts reg- 
iment, for their rage was something laughable, and 
their impudence so great, that they were permitted to 
spend the night in the guard -house as a reward. 

The morning of the 25th dawned bright and pleas- 
ant, and our numerous boxes and traps were piled up 
in the yard, preparatory to being toted off in the funny 
little mule -carts. Our quarters were all swept and 
garnished, some of the rooms having been trimmed 
with flowers in honor of the new^ comers. We took 
our last breakfast at the Boston Lunch, and the first 



THE FOURTEENTH OF MARCH. 



95 



relief of the new guard having been duly posted, we 
bade farewell to the house which had sheltered us so 
comfortably and pleasantly the past three months, and 
joined the regimental line on Broad street, the scene 
of so many guard -mountings, drills and dress -parades, 
and now of the ceremony of tendering the command 
of the city to our successors. Having conformed to 
the requirements of military etiquette, we started for 
our new home in the country, Camp Massachusetts, 
on the banks of the Neuse. 



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CHAPTER XI. 

A TRIP UP THE RAILROAD. 

HE evening of our second clay in camp, Sun- 
day, April 26, we received an unexpected 
favor from General Foster, in the shape of an 
order to march the next morning. The regiment was 
quickly astir, for rations were to be made ready, cart- 
ridge-boxes filled, and all those little preparations 
gone through with w^hich marching orders always 
render necessary. After a while, quiet settles down, 
and we turn in, determined to make sure of one more 
good sleep at all events. We are roused at early 
dawn by the roll of tlie drum ; the roll is called, the 
" Blind Girl " manages to fire off his rifle, fortu- 
nately without injury to the bystanders, the regimental 
line is formed, and we start for Newbern. 

On arriving in town, it appears that the expedition 
consists of the first division of infantry, accompanied 
by a small force of cavalry and artillery, the destina- 
tion beino- somewhere in the direction of Kinston. 
The Forty - Fifth meets with its usual good luck, for 
our brigade is embarked on the cars, with orders to pro- 
ceed by rail as far as the track will allow, thereby 
saving us a march of some eighteen miles, which the 
other brigade is compelled to make. The whole force 
was under the command of General Palmer. 

•3 



gS A TRIP UP THE RAILROAD. 

After the usual delay in getting men and horses 
on board the cars, we moved slowly up the road, which, 
passing through the camps and entrenchments sur- 
rounding the town on this side, runs for miles in an 
almost straight line through the pine forest, broken 
here and there by a clearing, and an occasional picket 
or sional station. After a ride of some twelve miles 
we reached the outpost at Batchelder's Creek, then 
held by the 58th Penn., Colonel Jones. Their camp 
was surrounded by earthworks, and a strong block- 
house commanded the railroad and bridge across the 
creek, w^iere a row of sharpened stakes presented an 
ugly front to any hostile visitor. 

The centre of attraction was, however, a railroad 
monitor, which stood on a side-track. It was an iron- 
plated baggage -car, with a peaked roof, the skylight 
serving for an entrance, which was reached by a ladder 
on the outside, removable in time of need. It carried 
two rifled six- pounders, one at each end, for which 
there were port -holes in the sides and ends of the car,, 
thus o-ivino- the o-unners ranp-e both of the railroad and 

o o O «. ' 

surrounding country. The sides of the car were cov- 
ered with rifles, and pierced with loop-holes for their 
use, the whole affair being surmounted by the old flag. 
This formidable arm of the service accompanied us 
to our camping-ground, where it remained during our 
sojourn. 

About six miles beyond Batchelder's Creek, we 
were dumped from the platform cars, much after the 
manner of dumping gravel, into an open field border- 
ing on a small stream, boasting the name of Gore 
Creek. The clearing extended on both sides of the 
railroad, the farmer's house and barn forming the 



A TRIP UP THE RAILROAD. 



99 



prominent feature in the scene. These were immedi- 
ately placed under guard to prevent any depredation 
by unlawful hands. 

The family had not left the house, perhaps having 
been wholly overcome by the unexpectedness of our 
visit. The poor man had most unfortunately planted 
his corn and orain, and there is oreat reason to fear 
that a love for the Union did not prevail in his mind 
when he beheld his crop trampled under the feet of 
Union soldiers, and his nice rail fences vanish in the 
smoke of their fires. No unnecessary damage was 
inflicted, but when three or four regiments are en- 
camped for several days on a planted field, you cannot 
expect very much of a harvest. 

As the whole afternoon was before us, we at once 
set to work to make our bivouac more than ordinarily 
comfortable. Rails being the first requisite, we col- 
lected quite a pile, and then commenced on our 
shanty. Planting two rails firmly in the ground, 
inclined towards each other and crossing a little at 
the top in this manner X, we secured them in this 
position with blanket straps, and the length of a rail 
distant, planted two more in like manner. A rail laid 
in the notches formed the ridge-pole of our house, 
and rails slanted from this pole to the ground com- 
pleted the frame -work. The covering for the roof 
consisted of our rubber blankets, making a water- 
proof hut, of which we were very thankful before our 
stay in that spot was over. 

Our next care after completing the hut, was to pro- 
cure a good bed, which we soon accomplished by fell- 
ing two or three pines and lopping off the small 
branches, these making a delightfully soft and springy 



lOO A TRIP UP THE RAILROAD. 

mattress. After a very comfortable night's rest, we 
amused ourselves in exploring the brook which ran 
through a pleasant little vale close by the camp, and 
idled about till noon. While wondering whether it 
was not time for dinner, the drums bes^an to sound 
the "assembly," followed immediately by the summons 
to '-Fall in." 

Colonel Amory having been compelled by sickness 
to return to Newbern, the command devolved upon 
Colonel Codman. Accompanied by a portion of 
the 17th Mass., under Lieut. -Col. Fellows, we were 
soon on our way up the railroad, preceded by two 
companies of the 45th, under command of the major, 
as a scouting party. A short distance beyond the 
creek, we passed a small earth -work, where some 
months before a body of rebels had been surrounded 
and captured, and the debris of their camp still lay 
scattered about. 

The track had been partially relaid for some dis- 
tance, rendering the marching anything but pleasant, 
as there was no path on the side of the- track, owing 
to the slippery, muddy condition of the steep banks. 
Moreover, the weather was extremely warm, adding 
much to the discomfort of the march, especially to 
such as had been foolish enough to wear their over- 
coats. Most of the men had eaten no dinner, and but 
one or two of the wise ones had thought to bring any- 
thing with them. 

A mile or more from camp, we passed the bivouac 
of the two companies who had been on picket duty 
the previous night, and were now scouting in advance 
of us. As we pushed forward, all the roads which 
crossed the track were eagerly scanned for traces of 



A TRIP UP THE RAILROAD. lOI 



the enemy or the cokimn co-operating with us on the 
Neuse road. But nothing was to be seen until, after 
marching about six miles, w^e came upon the major, 
w^io was awaiting our approach with his little battal- 
ion at one of these cross-roads. He had discovered 
a body of troops on the river- road, which was quickly 
pronounced to be the other brigade. 

The two companies which had been employed thus 
far in the fatiguing duty of skirmishing through the 
swampy country where the road ran, were left here 
under command of the major, as a reserve, and we 
hurried forward. The track had been wholly demol- 
ished from this point as far on as we went. In some 
places they had turned the whole body of the track, 
rails and sleepers, into the ditch, while in others they 
had burnt the sleepers, bending the rails in the fires. 
We found this destruction of the track rather a benefit 
than otherwise, for it gave us a smooth, level road, 
free from obstructions, and much less wearisome to 
march upon than where w^e were obliged to jump 
from sleeper to sleeper. 

As our skirmishers advanced, they drew the fire of 
the enemy's pickets, who were ensconced behind little 
breastworks made of sleepers. The rebels fell back 
quickly as we came near, firing an occasional shot to 
spread the alarm, which was replied to on our side, 
but the distance was too great either to inflict or 
receive damage. The latter part of the afternoon, 
after some ten miles marching, w^e arrived at a large 
clearing extending on both sides of the track. A 
house and barn stood on a cross-road on the left, 
and the Neuse road, separated by a single field from 
the railroad, was on the right, and, as we subsequently 



I02 A TRIP UP THE RAH. ROAD. 

discovered, crossed the track a short distance beyond. 
Here a halt was ordered, as, not four hundred yards 
distant, an earth -work loomed up directly across the 
track. It extended also for some distance to the left 
into the woods, and was concealed by a sunken fence 
and underbrush; the works also ran along the track 
to o-uard aQ-ainst an attack from the Neuse road. A 
squad of men sent to the house to make investigation, 
soon returned with two prisoners, a man and a boy, 
whom they had discovered making their escape from 
the back of the house, and after a sharp chase had 
captured and brought to the colonel. The old man 
was so frio-htened at havino- fallen into the hands of 
the Yankees, that very little was to be got from him. 
He amused us by his answer when asked his age; he 
said he did not know, for his house took fire once, and 
his age was burnt up. 

Unable to ascertain the strength of the enemy, 
except that there was a "right smart heap," and uncer- 
tain whether they had artillery or not, the colonel 
decided, nevertheless, to advance without awaiting the 
arrival of the other column. Accordingly, five com- 
panies of the 45th filed off to the left, and deploying 
as skirmishers, advanced through the field back of the 
house, leaving the sixth company, Co. A, to guard the 
colors, the 1 7th Mass. acting as reserve. The firing- 
soon became verv brisk alono- the line of the works, 
and the enemy's force was estimated at from three to 
five hundred. 

Thev did not, however, show themselves, and their 
firing was so high that we concluded they must have 
held their ouns above their heads and fired at ran- 
dom, in their fear of exposing themselves to northern 



A TRIP UP THE RAILROAD. lo; 

bullets. The colonel was in doubt as to the best 
course to pursue, for we had no artillery and he feared 
the rebels might have a masked battery. But as we 
advanced nearer and nearer, without drawing any- 
thing but musketry fire, it was deemed best to carry 
the works by assault, without waiting for the artillery 
which was with the other brigade. The order was 
given to Lieut.- Col. Fellows, of the 17th, to advance 
with his men and charge the works; but the captain 
of Co. A did not like to have this honor taken out of 
his hands, for we were in the advance ; so, after some 
talk, the task w^as delegated to him. Fixing bayonets, 
and firing by platoons, we started on the run directly 
up the track. 

The works were two or three hundred vards distant, 
and had the enemy possessed any artillery, our little 
company would have suffered most disastrously. But 
fortunately for us they had none, and at our advance 
gave way and fled into the woods, greeting us with a 
final volley as we leaped the ditch and took possession 
of the entrenchments, where, in their haste, they had 
left three of their comrades killed by our bullets. The 
sight of those poor fellows, lying there so still and 
motionless, made an indelible impression on the mind. 
It gave us a new insio'ht into the character of the men 

o o 

we were contending with. There they lay, dressed in 
miserable clothing, their haggard faces, long tangled 
hair, and neglected beards giving them a wild, hardly 
human appearance. 

The head of the other column arrived just as 
our victory was assured, but it was not thought best 
to penetrate any farther on account of our nearness 
to Kinston, only six miles distant, and not even to 



I04 



A TRIP UP THE RAILROAD. 



hold what we had gained. So, with a loss of one 
killed and three or four wounded, we started on the 
return march for camp, ten miles away. Night soon 
fell, and, to increase the pleasure of the way, it 
began to rain, gently at first, but soon with a vigor 
which was, under the circumstances, anything but 
agreeable. 

Our situation was not an enviable one. In the 
enemy's country, not knowing but they might return 
at any moment with overpowering numbers ; between 
us and camp a ten -mile's march on a partially demol- 
ished track, through thick darkness and a pelting rain. 
Remembering, however, that " what can't be cured 
must be endured," we trudged bravely on through the 
black night, regardless of rank or file, stumbling over 
the remains of the track, and only anxious to end our 
trials as soon as possible by a vigorous use of our legs. 

Most of us had eaten nothing since morning, and 
one or two fairly fainted from hunger and exhaustion. 
Having pretty good legs of our own, we arrived at 
camp about nine o'clock, among the first, drenched to 
the skin and too tired to eat or sleep. Other poor 
fellows were not so fortunate, but came straggling in, 
in groups of two and three all through the night, some 
not getting in till the next morning. The march 
told very severeh' on some of the field officers who 
had been unable to take their horses, and were unused 
to such exercise ; and we always felt that the colonel 
was more lenient to the men after that practical expe- 
rience of a march. 

We remained quietly in camp the next day, though 
the pioneers were at work on the railroad, apparently 
enoaoed in its reconstruction. But only apparently. 



'&"o- 



A TRIP UP THE RAILROAD. 105 

for the object of our expedition was to retain any 
force the enemy might have at Kinston in tliat 
vicinity, and prevent them from giving assistance to 
the troops then threatening General Dix at Suffolk. 
A portion of the 43d Mass. went up the railroad for 
some distance to keep up the deception, returning the 
same night. 

We were most agreeably surprised here by the 
receipt of a mail from home, w^iich was brought up to 
us, and by its help we managed to pass the day very 
comfortably. After two very rainy nights, we were 
once more packed on the platform cars and landed 
directly at Camp Massachusetts, which lay close to 
the railroad, where we quickly settled down to a life 
of drill and stockading. 



14 



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JlMOiit OrtR THE rKfcNT, 



CHAPTER XII. 

CAMP MASSACHUSETTS. 

OUR camp, which we left so unceremoni- 
ously to go to Gum Swamp, was situated 
on a large plantation, about a mile and a half 
south of Newbern, and an eighth of a mile from the 
Neuse. It was but a few rods from the railroad and 
just outside a long line of earthworks which we were 
to man in case of an attack from this quarter, they 
beino- the outer line of works in this direction. 

We found that the pioneers had been at work during 
our absence, and the camp was already laid out in 
streets, and some of the tents pitched. They were A 
tents, eight feet square, and intended for four occu- 
pants, though owing to the liberal supply many had 
but three; however, no one was ever heard to com- 
plain of a superabundance of room. Sunday was 
anything but a day of rest, for, immediately after ser- 
vice, there was a general stampede for the deserted 
camps near by, to obtain flooring for the tents and 
materials for stockading them. 

These stockades were walls about three feet in 
height, eight feet square, making a foundation for 
the tent, and largely increasing the room and conven- 
ience. They were built in every variety of style, some 
of lo^s, after the fashion of log-houses, others with 



I08 CAMP MASSACHUSETTS. 

rough clap- boards, pieces of boxes, in fact anything 
that would answer the purpose of a board, an ex- 
tremely scarce article about camp. When the work 
was completed the streets presented a very motley 
appearance, no two being alike, the looks of each 
stockade varying according to the skill of the builder. 

The hours of grief which this herculean task of 
stockading entailed upon the three unfortunates shel- 
tered by our canvass, will not soon be forgotten. 
Our first sorrow was, finding on our return from up 
country, that our upright posts, the corner stones 
of our foundation, selected with the greatest care 
and discrimination, indeed, perfect gems in their way, 
and sawed off into proper lengths with much labor 
and a dull saw, were missing, actually gone. An 
undeniable judgment upon us for having found them 
on Sunday. This was, however, but the beginning of 
our sorrows. After many journeys back and forth 
between our tent and the old camps, sufficient mate- 
rials were ao-ain collected on which to commence 
operations. 

With careful measurement and seeming accuracy, 
the places for the uprights were marked and the holes 
due. It is due to the soil of North Carolina to say 
that if there was one easy thing about stockading it 
was this same diooincr holes. It reminded us of our 
younger days, when the sand- heaps which lay before 
unfinished houses were the undisputed territory of 
the children of the neighborhood, and castles, caves, 
bridges and tunnels grew under the busy hands of the 
young builders. Our camp was located on a sandy 
plain, no doubt made expressly for digging holes, 
whether for posts or earthworks, it mattered not. 



CAMP MASSACHUSETTS. 



109 



Having erected the posts, we next proceeded to 
make the walls of our house. First, the sutler had 
no nails, and we had to wait half a day for those. 
The company boasts two saws and three hatchets ; 
you spend five minutes in going up and down the 
street in a vain attempt to borrow either the one or 
the other; they are all in use; you wait in idleness for 
ten minutes and try again. There is no need of 
wasting breath in making known your errand, — the 
unhappy owners of the coveted articles are visited on 
the average by some eight or ten applicants in as 
many minutes, — a look is sufficient. 

At last you espy a saw lying idle, and immediately 
pounce on it and rush to your tent. Three sticks are 
sawed, and you are just getting your hand in when 
you are confronted by the injured man who indig- 
nantly demands his property, which }'ou are con- 
strained with a bad grace to deliver. The same scene 
is enacted with the hammer ; and having spent as much 
time as a contractor would ask to build a house, the 
sides are at last completed and placed in position. 
The fact is undeniable, — they look very rough and un- 
workmanlike ; however, we put the best foot forward, 
and the worst looking side at the back, where we 
flatter ourselves it will not be seen. 

At length the frame is ready to receive the roof, 
and in an agony of doubts and fears, after some 
effort, we raise the tent to its place, and — find that 
our frame is too large for the tent, or, rather, the tent 
is too small for the frame ; at all events, it is no go. 
However, by dint of pulling and twisting and sawing, 
we drag the refractory edges together, and with our 
tent -poles at an angle of forty -five degrees, and pre- 



no CAMP MASSACHUSETTS. 

senting a most unstable appearance, we enter our new 
abode in triumph. We have stockaded. 

The old camp life of drill and guard was re-enacted 
here, with an additional task, by way of variety, enti- 
tled fatieue-dutv, which was neither more nor less, 
than spending the day in the trenches, with a spade 
for a companion, an occupation on a hot summer's 
day the reverse of delightful. Battalion drills and 
company drills followed each other in quick succes- 
sion, but as the one was early in the morning, and 
the other late in the afternoon, we had a good portion 
of the day to ourselves, and many were the shifts to 
fill up the long interval. 

The customary occupation in the morning, when 
the weather permitted, was a swim in the Neuse. 
After mornino: drill, it was usually the wav to qto to 
guard -mounting and hear the band play. Then it 
was time to bathe, for we were obliged by orders to 
o-o in at ten, or thereabouts, and only once a day, but 
this increased the sport by bringing a good many into 
the water at the same time. Our road to the river lay 
directly past the regimental hospital, most beautifully 
situated in a orove of mao-nificent mulberry trees, as 
large as English elms, and so thick -leaved as to make 
a perfect shade tree. The hospital tent was pitched 
under one of them, the farm-house of the plantation 
being also occupied for a hospital ; and near by was 
the quartermaster's building, while within a stone's 
throw stood Fort Spinola. 

The fort was built directly on the river-bank, and 
commanded, with its black -mouthed cannon, both the 
river and the surroundino- country for more than a 
mile in every direction. On our arrival at Camp 



CAMP MASSACHUSETTS. i i i 

Massachusetts, the fort was garrisoned by Co. G, of 
our regiment, who, having practiced heavy artillery 
drill at Fort Macon, were summoned to its defence 
in the early part of April, when an attack on the 
city was apprehended. Soon after our advent, Co. I 
returned from Fort Macon and took the place of Co. 
G at Fort Spinola, so that, after an interval of six 
months, the whole regiment was once more united 
under one command. 

Just by the fort there was a long wharf, running 
into deep water, for the slope of the river-bed is very 
gradual, and this wharf was, so to speak, the head- 
quarters of the bathers. Here were unlimited oppor- 
tunities for swimming, diving, etc., while those who 
preferred shallower water had the whole river -bank 
to wade from. One of the men actually swam across 
the river one day, without making known his purpose. 
He not only reached the opposite side, but had started 
on his way back when he was picked up by a boat 
which was sent after him. As the river is fully two 
miles wide at this point, it was, to say the least, quite 
a swim. 

The quartermaster's boat lay at this wharf, for all 
the light stores were brought from Newbern by water, 
the heavier ones coming in the cars. The boat was 
manned by a detailed crew, exempt from all other 
duty, but as the officers made frequent use of the boat 
to go to the city at all hours of the day and night, 
the position was no sinecure. We poor soldiers who 
were blessed with occasional furloughs to visit the 
great centre of attraction, were sometimes honored by 
an humble seat in the bow, for which we were duly 
grateful, being thereby saved a long and dusty walk. 



112 CAMP MASSACHUSETTS. 

As the season advanced, and the summer sun grew 
hotter and hotter, the blackberry vines, which grew in 
great profusion around the camp, began to exhibit a 
pleasing appearance of redness, which indicated a not 
distant day of ripeness. Hearing certain stories about 
a discovery which had been made in some fields not 
a great way off, two or three of us started out one 
day, dippers in hand, and, after a diligent search, were 
amply rewarded for our pains by a dish of delicious 
wild strawberries. Not content with this luxury, the 
colored people near by must needs bring round, just at 
dinner time, some nice ice-cream, and, compelled by 
the force of circumstances, we had a dessert of straw- 
berries and ice-cream. We often repeated this exper- 
iment while the little red beauties were to be found, 
and before they had fairly disappeared another fruit 
had ripened. 

The blackberries had passed from the red era, and 
acres upon acres were covered with the long trailing 
vines, thickly laden with the luscious fruit. There 
was a continuous feast among the regiments encamped 
in that neighborhood while the season lasted, and dur- 
ing that time it was our regular amusement to spend 
an hour or two daily in blackberrying, — a pleasant 
task, for a sure reward awaited us at the termination 
of our labors. 

A favorite place to visit was the Newbern battle- 
field, some three miles below our camp, and one 
bright May morning some four or five of us started 
off for the day in that direction. Instead of taking 
the direct road which ran close by the camp, we deter- 
mined to go down the river bank. Passing through 
the camp of the ist North Carolina, colored, which. 



CAMP MASSACHUSETTS. II3 

some time after, did such good service at Olustee, 
we linofered a moment to watch them drill. After 
admiring their powers of imitation, and, at the same 
time, enjoying some most ludicrous blunders, we soon 
found ourselves on the borders of the river. 

The nature of the country was very different from 
what we had been led to expect, consisting of a series 
of bluffs and deep valleys, similar in formation to 
those on the Mississippi. As we approached the 
main line of earthworks, we found indications of rebel 
fortifications on these heights; old gun-carriages, sand- 
bags, and all the debi^is of a deserted camp lay about 
in hopeless ruin. They had evidently feared we would 
approach by the river, and we soon came upon the 
remains of the blockade, consisting of sunken vessels, 
some of which had been raised and towed up to New- 
bern, thus opening the channel. 

We followed a pleasant little path through the 
woods for some distance, catching occasional glimpses 
of the river through the trees, -as it sparkled in the 
bright sunlidit, and at leno-th came out at the rebel 
earthworks, the scene of the battle when Newbern 
was won. The works extend from the west side of 
the railroad directly to the river's edge, where they 
terminate in a small fort which commands the river, 
and \yhich we found filled with the ruins of camp 
equipage of every description abandoned by the rebels 
in their hurried flight. 

The 8th Mass. were doing picket duty at this point, 
and apparently having a very easy time of it. As we 
had all explored the ground two or three times before, 
we hurried along the line of works till \\e struck the 
Newbern road, where, instead of turning back to camp. 



II_|. CAMP MASSACHUSETTS. 

we set our faces southward, hoping to obtain a dinner 
at one of the houses which stand some way below the 
battlefield. Crossing the broad cleared space over 
which our troops had made their gallant charge, stop- 
ping a moment to examine the traces of rebel bullets 
in the trees and to marvel at the terrible havoc made 
by the shells among the pines, we soon reached a lane 
which led up to a house half hidden by the trees, 
where we determined to try our fortune. 

The usual group of negro shanties stood on the 
lane, running over wTth little picaninnies, who gazed 
at us with wondering eyes. The owner of the house 
had gone to town to lay in a stock of provisions, 
but his wife gave us a cordial welcome and prom- 
ised to do her best for us. We were soon sum- 
moned to what was to us a most luxurious repast; the 
mere fact of sitting down at a table was a pleasure, 
and the strangeness of our surroundings enhanced 
the enjoyment. Having taken our dessert in a mul- 
berry tree, the thought of the battalion drill awaiting 
us at the end of our walk, hastened our departure 
from this quiet spot, which was a delightful contrast 
to the stir of camp -life, and seemingly far removed 
from every thought of war. The lameness of the 
master of the house had alone prevented him from 
joining the army, as most of his neighbors had done. 
We obtained an insioht into southern life in this 

O 

way, which was new and interesting, and returned to 
camp well pleased with our excursion. 

On the 1 6th of May the regiment was reviewed by 
the division commander, General Palmer, who ex- 
pressed much pleasure at the appearance of the men, 
and particularly admired the looks of the guns. It 



CAMP MASSACHUSETTS. 115 

was the custom during the mild May evenings, for 
the singers to collect and give impromptu concerts, 
and very often the band played for an hour in the 
square in front of the colonel's tent, while on moonlight 
nights, as we lay awake in our tents, we could hear 
the mocking-birds in the grove by the hospital, mak- 
ing night melodious with their songs. 

There were two picket-stations connected with the 
camp, one about a mile and a half down the river road, 
prolific with mosquitos and wood -ticks; the other, and 
by far the pleasanter, was at the railroad bridge which 
spanned a broad creek not far from camp. The duty 
at this spot was very light, and as the bridge was a 
covered one, it was in fact the coolest spot anywhere 
about camp, no small matter in that hot climate. More- 
over, the band came there to practice morning and 
afternoon, having with commendable wisdom selected 
this cool, shady place for that purpose. The days grew 
hotter and hotter, and the drills proportionately shorter, 
and we all began to look forward with wistful longing 
to the day which should see us safely embarked for 
home. 




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CHAPTER XIII. 

HOMEWARD KOUND. 

THERE had been stones about camp for a day 
or more, of fighting at Batchelders Creek, 
and the death of Colonel Jones, of the 58th 
Penn,, was reported, but we had treated it as a mere 
rumor. Our astonishment was great when, just before 
roll-call Sunday evening. May 24th, the order was 
given to the different companies to prepare for an 
immediate departure to Batchelder's Creek. The train 
stood in front of the camp awaiting us, and in twenty 
minutes from the time the orders were received by 
the colonel we were on the cars and off for the front. 
When the regiment arrived at the picket- station 
we found everything quiet, but the death of the 
colonel was confirmed. Two of our companies were 
immediately sent out on picket, and the rest of us 
stretched ourselves on the parade-ground for the rest 
of the night. It appeared that the sSth Penn., in 
company with two or three other regiments, imder 
command of Colonel Jones, had made a raid up the 
railroad, and, at the same earthworks we stormed the 
month before, surprised and captured nearly two hun- 
dred prisoners, besides a piece of artillery, baggage- 
wao-ons, etc., the general in command barely escaping. 



Il8 HOMEWARD BUU-XD. 

The rebels, receiving large reinforcements from 
Kinston, pressed closely upon our retiring column, 
and its gallant commander was shot b}- a sharpshooter 
just before reaching the camp. A fight ensued over 
his body, which resulted in the repulse of the enemy, 
and the 58th retired within their entrenchments, the 
joy over their victory wholly overshadowed by the 
loss of their colonel. The rebels, hearing doubtless 
of the arrival of reinforcements, had fallen back in 
the night, and as all fear of an attack was dissipated, 
we started for our own camp about noon, taking the 
body of Colonel Jones on the train to Newbern, there 
to await transportation to his home in Philadelphia. 
So ended our last expedition in North Carolina. 

The foUowino^ week we were summoned to escort 
the body of Colonel Jones to the steamer from the 
house of Captain Messinger, the provost-marshal in 
company with all the high oiificers in the department, 
who were proud to do honor to the remains of a brave, 
Christian soldier. After services at the boat we 
marched back to camp, very tired and dusty, and 
fully convinced that escort duty at a funeral was no 
sinecure. The next day General Foster visited the 
camp, and praising the regiment for its general satis- 
factory conduct, strongly urged its re-enlistment in 
his department. The time for such an appeal was 
unfortunately chosen, just as the men were becoming- 
very weary of military duty, and anxious to see home 
once more, and the response at the time was not very 
hearty. But many did ultimately embrace the offer, 
findinsf that the excitement of a soldier's life had 
unfitted them for anything else. 

The departure of the 43d and 44th Mass. natu- 



HOMEWARD BOUND. ng 

rally served to turn our thoughts northward, and we 
did little else but discuss the chances of a speedy 
return, talk of our reception, and lay wagers as to the 
probable time of sailing, etc. As the weather grew 
warmer, the climate began to have a marked effect 
upon the health of the regiment. Drill was short- 
ened, and everything possible done to avert the evil ; 
but one after another sickened, until the regimental 
hospital was crowded, and numbers were sent every 
day or two to the hospital at Beaufort, to have the 
benetit of the fresh sea-breeze. 

But in vain. The sun beat hotter and hotter on those 
little tents, until we lived, as it were, in a fiery furnace. 
The sickness increased daily, and some poor fellows 
passed on to their resting-place above, when almost 
in reach of that earthly home towards which their 
thoughts and dreams had so long been directed. 
As one after another fell victims to the terrible fever, 
we beo-an to fear none would be left to return unless 
the summons came quickly. After much weary wait- 
ing, our hearts were rejoiced by the news of the 
arrival at Morehead City of the steamers "Spaulding" 
and " Tillie," prepared to transport us from the land of 
sickness and sorrow to a more genial clime. 

Our joy was somewhat lessened by the rumor that 
we were ordered to report to General Dix, at Fortress 
Monroe, and if needed, to join the force then operating 
in the vicinity of the White House, Va. ; but that was 
as nothino- in view of the fact that we were actually 
homeward bound. The night before our departure 
the followino- farewell order from General Foster was 
read to the regiment : 



I20 HOMEWARD B(;UND. 

Headijuarters, Department oe North Carolina, ) 

iSth Army Corps, > 

Newp.ern, June 23, 1S63. ) 

Special Order No. 17S. 

The Commanding General bids farewell to the officers and 
soldiers of the 45th M. V. I\I., with the most sincere regret at 
losing a regiment which has proved itself so good and deserving 
in every position which it has been called upon to occupy. In the 
various marches and fights they have exhibited that order, disci- 
pline, experience and courage, which he hoped and expected to 
find in an organization so worthilv descended from the " Ancient 
and Honorable Corps of Boston Cadets." For those who have 
fallen in the fight or by disease, the General offers his sincere and 
heartfelt sympathy to their comrades in arms, and to their bereaved 
friends at home. To those who have survived the dangers, though 
sharing them, the general bids God Speed 1 

By command of 

Major-General JOHN G. FOSTER. 

John F. Anderson, 

Alajor and Sen. A. D. C. 

On Wednesday morning, the 24th of June, we broke 
up our camp, leaving everything" standing in expecta- 
tion of its speedy occupation by some other regiment, 
and embarking on the cars, were hurried towards 
Beaufort. There we found the vessels awaiting our 
arrival at the same wharf at which we had landed 
nearly eight months before, then a happy company, 
full of life and health, eager to be at work in our 
country's cause, but now a forlorn and weary number, 
sick in body artd mind, with scarce energy enough left 
to realize that the hour for which we had longed and 
prayed so many weary days had come at last. 

Sick and well, we were all after a time embarked, and 
in twent3^-four hours were anchored off Fortress Mon- 
roe. On musterino- the available strenQ-th of the reo'i- 
ment, it was found that out of about eicrht hundred 



HOMEWARD BOUND. 121 

and sixty men but three hundred and fifty were fit for 
active service. The colonel went on shore to report 
the condition of the regiment, and, after some delay, 
received orders from the War Department to proceed 
with his command directly to Boston, so on Friday 
afternoon we were once more headed homewards. 
Most of us were too miserable to display our joy in 
noisy mirth, but the spirits of the men brightened 
visibly as the way grew shorter. Two of our number 
passed away to their eternal home in that short pas- 
sage, and others survived the voyage only to die in 
the arms of loved ones at home. 

After a bright, calm passage, the " Spaulding " 
steamed up Boston harbor early Monday morning, 
the 29th of June, and was quickly boarded by a party 
of friends who had been cruising about the harbor the 
whole of the previous day in anticipation of our arrival. 
After landing the numerous sick at T wharf, the vessel 
again hauled out into the stream to await the arrival 
of the " Tilly," which was but a poor sailor. The latter 
steamer arrived so late in the afternoon that it was 
deemed advisable to postpone the reception till the 
following day. The poor fellows were consequently 
condemned to pass another night on board of crowded 
transports in full sight of their own homes. 

Tuesday dawned as bright and pleasant as heart 
could desire, and about nine o'clock the regiment 
landed, and, escorted by the Cadets and Massachusetts 
Rifle Club, proceeded en route for the State House. 
After a reception by Governor Andrew, it marched 
to the parade-ground and had a short battalion 
drill, then, having had a collation, the men were 
delivered into the arms of their expectant friends. 

16 



122 HOMEWARD BOUND. 

After all these ceremonies had been gone through 
with, the regiment went to the old camp at Readville, 
and having turned over arms and equipments to the 
quartermaster, were furloughed till the following Mon- 
day, when they were mustered out of the United States 
service, but neither paid nor discharged. 

After enjoying the luxuries of home life for about 
three weeks, the new^s of the New^ York riots came 
upon us in all their horror and wickedness. Symp- 
toms of uneasiness betraying themselves in our own 
city, a notice appeared in the papers signed by the 
colonel, requesting the regiment to assemble at Read- 
ville on Wednesday, the 15th of July, to aid in quell- 
ing any disturbance that might arise. About two 
hundred of the men obeyed this order, which, in the 
scattered state of the regiment, was all that could be 
hoped for on such an unexpected summons. 

It seemed quite like old times, meeting once more 
in the barracks, and making preparations for an expe- 
dition, though the consciousness that this time we 
were only bound to the city of Boston had a very 
enlivening effect upon us all. The quartermaster 
furnished us with arms, ammunition and equipments, 
and, with our blankets slung in the old fashion, we 
could very easily have imagined ourselves on the 
point of starting off on a tramp up country from 
Newbern. 

Having formed in line, the colonel equalized the 
companies, a rather important matter, as the Nan- 
tucket company, Co. H, had but one representative 
besides the officers, and the Cape Cod company, Co. 
D, but four or five. We then went through a short 
drill in street firing ; and having loaded our guns 



HUM i:\VARD BOUND. 



123 



with ball cartridges, started for the cars and were 
deposited at the depot in town. Having executed the 
order, " prime," with guns capped and at half-cock, 
to show the bystanders and all interested that this 
did not mean blank cartridges or holiday parade, we 
marched to our quarters in Faneuil Hall. 

This was the day following that of the Cooper 
street riot, and as a renewed attack on Dock Square 
and its gun -shops was expected that night, this, the 
post of danger and honor, was assigned to the 45th, 
as well as the support of four guns of the iith Bat- 
tery, Capt. Jones. We were on duty through the 
nisht, half of the reoiment at a time, under command 
of the lieutenant -colonel and major, a company being 
assigned to each gun, they being placed one at each 
corner of Faneuil Hall, thus commanding all the 
streets converging upon Dock Square. There were 
pickets out on all the neighboring streets, and no 
persons, except market men, were permitted to enter 
the square. 

Strict orders were o-iven to fire immediatelv on the 
approach of any threatening body of people, and thus, 
by a wise severity at the outset, to prevent such a pro- 
longation of outrao^es as had resulted from the mis- 
judged leniency of the New York authorities. The 
night was passed very quietly, excepting some distur- 
bance from a noisy crowd in the evening, which was, 
however, quickly dispersed by a patrol of dragoons. 
A regular oruard was stationed at the entrance of the 
building, and there we had to stay throughout the 
day, short furloughs of an hour or two being occa- 
sionally granted There is reason to fear, however, 
that during the week spent in the hall a good many 



124 HOMEWARD BOUND. 

private furloughs were taken by way of the windows 
and spouts, but as we were only on duty at night, it 
mattered but little. 

We continued to spend our nights in the open air, 
generally in the Square, and on one or tw^o occa- 
sions detachments were sent to other points. South 
Boston bridge, the armories, etc. Though the city 
seemed to be restored to its pristine security, yet fear- 
ing some outbreak on Saturday night or Sunday, w^e 
were detained till the next Tuesday. It seemed very 
strange to post sentries about the streets and alleys, 
with orders to allow no one to pass through, and the 
indignation of some of our worthy citizens at being 
made to go some other way, was very amusing .Our 
days were spent in watching the passers-by from the 
windows, and one or two afternoons we were treated 
to a battalion drill on the Common, in which we cer- 
tainly showed rather how much we had forgotten than 
what we knew, for our mistakes were very numerous. 
The gaping crowd were, however, none the wiser, and 
doubtless thought them all a part of the show. 

But all orood thing's must sometime have an end, 
and so did our rations of bologna sausage and Wash- 
ington pie, daily served out to us in the Cradle of 
Liberty. The rioters thought better of their plans, 
and wisely concluded that it was preferable to run the 
risk of beino- drafted and then killed, than to be shot 
down at their very doors; a fate they had every reason 
to expect if they attempted any further disturbance of 
the peace. Thanks to the prompt action of the state 
and city authorities, the riotous proceedings were 
nipped in the bud, and law and order again reigned 
supreme. 



HOMEWARD BOUND. I 25 

The men had been dropping in to the rendezvous 
from day to day, drawn from a distance by the sum- 
mons, until we numbered five hundred strong, and on 
Monday night, knowing it would be the last time we 
should be together as a regiment, we devoted the 
evening, for we had no duty to perform that night, to 
having a good time. We sang all the army songs till 
we were tired out ; cheered all the officers and every- 
thing connected with the regiment, individually and 
collectively, till we were hoarse, and made such a 
scene as even old Faneuil Hall, in all her long history 
of stirring events, had never witnessed the like of 
before, and probably never will again. 

Our task was ended, our nine months more than 
full. Leaving- behind us a name blotted bv no stain 
of dishonor, and with a proud consciousness of having 
done honor to the noble State that gave us birth, hav- 
ing, in camp and on the battle-field, striven to do our 
duty by the government we had volunteered to serve, 
on Tuesday, the twenty -first day of July, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty -three, we w^ere paid off and discharged, 
and the old Forty- Fifth lived only in history. 

We had seen every variety of service, life in bar- 
racks, in tents and in houses. Our losses in battle, 
twenty killed and seventy -one wounded, outnumbered 
that of all the other nine-month's regiments in the 
department taken together, while our loss from dis- 
ease was very heavy. Our officers were worthy of 
their commands, and the men worthy of their com- 
manders. Never, from the commencement of the war, 
was an officer sent from the State better fitted for 
the responsibilities of his position than our noble 
colonel, Charles R. Codman. Perfect in his drill, firm 



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HOMIlWARD r.OUND. 



in his discipline, yot free from all severity ; brave in 
the hour of danuer. \ ot without rashness; loved, and 
\et respected, he was truly a model officer. In the 
coming years it will be the pride and boast of every 
member of the 45th Mass. that he served for such a 
country, in such a cause, from such a State, under 
sucli a commander, in such a regiment. 






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